Something is seriously wrong…..

 The world was silent when we died-

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Half of a Yellow Sun

The attack on fisheries minister Amasson Kingi rally is an indication that something is seriously, seriously wrong here at the coast. The fact that a group of people can invade a meeting and order people attending a government minister’s function to leave  and even hack his bodyguard indicates that there is more trouble at the coast than we think.

Yes, the police can easily blame the minister for having not informed them about the meeting but me thinks we are in a democracy where free speech and association should be part and parcel of our lives. Again Kingi and former industrial judge Stewart Madzayo had nothing to fear as they were on homeground.

My worry is that the people who were attacked are not in the local lingo “Kenyans” as one would want to put it, but Coastal leaders who have an interest of the coastal resident at heart. I am worried because there is something grievously wrong with the way things are turning out to be.

It would be too early to speculate whether the meeting was disrupted by Minister Kingi’s opponent or by members of the Mombasa Republican Council but what I am sure is that the violence witnessed was unwarranted. If it is because of political competition, then shame on the organizers of the attack.

Assuming the meeting was disrupted by members of the MRC as reported in the media, then, I think that the organization has become a dragon which the government and the leadership of the MRC are now unable to control. The MRC leadership on its part has denounced violence and claimed to be a peace loving organization, yet its secessionist ideology seems to have permeated the rank and file of the group to an extent where they feel they have to achieve their objectives though hook or crook.

It would be safe to argue that then that the MRC leadership has lost touch with the organization which has grown bigger than them and followers are devising their ways of enforcing what they think the leadership believes in.

On the other hand Government on its part continues to assure residents and the nation at large that all is well and that they are in control. On the contrary, however, all is not rosy at the coast. There seems to be a breakdown of law and order and hardly a month passes without people being killed and the deaths very quickly blamed on the MRC. Once the MRC is mentioned people easily forget and move on. In the last two weeks for example almost 20 people have lost their lives due to what is explained as MRC activities.

The sad twist to the whole affair is that in the last two incidents members of the public have turned against each other and hacked them to death. And what we have seen is government gleefully explaining how members of the public turned against each other.  The delight at projecting how violent the MRC is on the face of government is unquestionable. But it is also an indicator of how incapable government is at dealing with the rising breakdown of law and order at the coast.

Given the circumstances, the Government and the MRC top brass need to understand that both of them have completely lost it and  need to devise new strategies to curb violence which if not contained could lead to more loss of life and property. The MRC needs to move from its press conference peace statements and engage its followers to desist from violence. Fact is whenever a government turns on its people; it is the people who suffer.

On the other hand government needs to stop celebrating citizens hacking each other and devise mechanisms that would make people value life, honour diversity of opinion and freedom of expression and association.

Ends……..