Dispatch from Mombasa

Gov. Joho and Kingi in a past press conference Last week two out of the six governors of the coast region declared that they would set in motion processes for the secession of the coast region. Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho popularly known among his supporters as “ Sultan ” and Kilifi Governor Amasson Kingi declared that they wanted the region to secede based on the fact that the area “has been marginalized by successive governments and the only way to get out of the marginalization was to determine own destiny.” Secession talks are not a new thing at the coast of Kenya. In 2008, a separatist organization called the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) pushed for the secession of the coast region citing an agreement between the Kenyan government and the Sultan of Zanzibar for the administration of the region for a period of 50 years. According to a Reuters(2012) report, the MRC claimed that they had “ … documents of a 1963 accord signed by then Kenyan Prime Minister and late...

Safari ya Bamba ni machero (The journey to Bamba is tomorrow) is an old Giriama childhood song that is sang by children when they gather in the evening as they wait for their mothers to cook. Though innocently sang, it’s a song that tells you that if you want to travel to Bamba, you must be adequately prepared both psychologically and physically because going there is not a journey for the faint. It requires both stamina and determination.    As a young reporter working in the District Information Office Mariakani  in the late 90s, the assignment I dreaded most was to be sent for coverage in Bamba, some thirty kilometers north of Mariakani in Kilifi County. Going to Bamba meant that you would have to leave early and come back late. You would swallow all the dust on the road and brace yourself for the scorching sun and thirst. There was no assurance that you would come back the same day and if you would it would not be later than midnight. It would be worse if ...