Before the recent police swoop of the Mombasa Republican Council; MRC as it is now known was a veritable force within the Mijikenda community at the Coast. This is evident by the large number of its members attending court cases involving its leaders and the government.
The group which is alleged to be funded by well placed politicians and businessmen at the Coast is rebelling from Kenya in protest to what they say are historical injustices meted upon the Coastal communities.
These include exclusion when it comes to employment opportunities and development programmes, landlessness amongst its people and pre-colonial treaties entered into between the government of Kenya, the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British monarchy concerning the governing of the ten mile Coastal strip
The group started as a ‘primitive’ lobby group whose grievances were shunned by the goverment. The members conveyed their grievances using leaflets and graffiti on walls. However the sheer poverty the groups leaders live in is telling.
A spot check revealed that MRC leaders live in rental houses paying a monthly rent of Sh2500. Inside the home of the MRC spokesman is a home of a man who is struggling.
The leaders and some of their followers are still languishing in remand after they failed to raise money for their bail. The top officials include Omar Mwamnwadzi, Ustadh Mohammed Rashid Mraja, Randu Nzai Ruwa, Omar Babu Suleimna alias Bambam and youths allied to the group were rounded up and arrested causing fears amongst adherents.
Source: The Star
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