Sikkerhedsstyrker har anholdt medlemmer af Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), som anklages for at tilskynde til og udføre vold og mistænkes for løsrivelsesplaner fra det øvrige Kenya, som de mener altid har negligeret deres region.
MOMBASA, 24. oktober, 2012 (IRIN): Below, IRIN offers an overview of the coastal secessionist group.
What is the MRC?
Formed in the late 1990s, the group aims to counter decades of the perceived marginalization of the coastal region’s indigenous population, which it says successive governments have done nothing to address.
The MRC remained largely inactive until 2008, when it gained widespread publicity due in large part to a new slogan emblazoned on caps and T-shirts: “Pwani si Kenya”, Kiswahili for “The Coast is not Kenya.”
Leaders claim a membership of 1,5 million. One independent analyst told IRIN 100.000 was a more plausible figure.
In addition to calling for secession, the MRC has urged its followers to boycott the general election in March 2013.
Are their grievances (ankepunkter) valid?
After independence from Britain in 1963, large chunks of land across the country, including the Coast Province, were appropriated by the government.
Plots were often distributed to outsiders in a corrupt system of political patronage, and many residents ended up as “squatters” on land they considered their birth right.
Around 80 percent of the coastal population lacks titles (skøder) to the land on which they live.
Randu Nzai Ruwa, the group’s secretary, told IRIN before his recent arrest for incitement that he had no faith any government in Nairobi would work to reverse this “injustice.” “We will solve it alone,” he said.
Although Kenya’s coast is a pillar of the country’s tourism industry, many residents believe few of the benefits of the sector accrue to them.
Is secession a realistic goal?
Læs videre på
http://irinnews.org/Report/96630/Briefing-Kenya-s-coastal-separatists-menace-or-martyrs
