Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Coast ministers query outlawed group’s bid to secede from Kenya



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By DANIEL NYASSY dnyassy@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, January 2  2012 at  22:00
IN SUMMARY
  • The name excludes other regions of the province, say Rai and Mwakwere
Two Coast leaders have questioned the motives of an outlawed group in its push to secede from Kenya.
“The name Mombasa Republic Council (MRC) already leaves Kinango out. Other regions like Taita Taveta, Lamu, Tana River and Kilifi are similarly left out.
“Is the group genuine or is it an outfit of some tycoons in Mombasa out to get leadership and later oppress the Mijikenda people? This should be made clear,” said Mr Gonzi Rai, the Lands assistant minister, who is the Kinango MP.
He and Trade minister Ali Chirau Mwakwere said MRC isolated other regions. They doubted that the group was genuinely out to fight for the entire Coast Province.
Mr Rai said the group only Mombasa in mind in its fight for secession.
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“The name should be changed to something like Coast Republican Council to include everybody in Coast.
“If this happens, they will have my 100 per cent backing but not now we are not sure whether it’s a few rich people in Mombasa using it to take leadership only to oppress us later,” he said at Makamini Primary School in Kwale.
Mr Mwakwere, who is also the Matuga MP, said the activities of MRC were only concentrated in Mombasa.
“What is MRC? It’s not known here in Kwale. What do they fight for?Are they fighting for Coast people’s rights or Mombasa people’s rights?” he asked.
He was willing to back the group if it clearly spelt out its agenda for Coast.
“If they genuinely want to fight for the rights of all coastal people,I will definitely back them and everybody in the region should support them too,” he said.
At the same time, the minister cautioned the group against boycotting thisyear’s general elections if its demands were not met, arguing that doing so would be suicidal.

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