MOMBASA, Kenya: Kenyan police arrested the leader of the separatist Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) and shot dead two supporters in a house raid yesterday, intensifying a crackdown on the movement seeking independence for the country’s coastal region.
Dozens of youths, some armed with machetes and clubs, who tried to prevent officers from detaining Omar Mwamnuadzi were also detained and a number of crude weapons seized, Coast province police chief Aggrey
Adoli said.
The MRC is campaigning for the secession of the Indian Ocean coastal strip — a tourist hotspot and trade hub — and threatens to disrupt next March’s general election if its demand is not met, raising fears of violence.
An election will be the first since an international war crimes court charged four Kenyans with masterminding deadly tribal bloodletting after a disputed
2007 vote.
Kenya’s government said last week it had information that the MRC intended to sow chaos during national exams that began yesterday.
“These are not threats to take lightly. That is why you are seeing these crackdowns and they will not stop until we have dealt completely with the threat,” Internal Security Minister Katoo Ole Metito told local lawmakers and security chiefs in Mombasa. “There will be peaceful elections in Coast and our (school exam) candidates will sit exams in peace.” The MRC’s grievances stem from what it calls decades of social and economic marginalisation of the people. REUTERS
