Secession is dangerous and costly, Coast leaders told

The push for secession of the Coast will have negative consequences, two leaders have said.

Speaking on Saturday on the sideline of a peace meeting between Somalis and Borana in Garbatula, Isiolo County, NCIC Commissioner Morris Dzoro said the autonomy calls by Coast leaders are cheap politics aimed at making themselves popular in preparation for the 2022 elections.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) had called a meeting between the two communities to solve perennial conflicts.

AUTONOMY

Mr Dzoro said even if the leaders table a bill to secede, it will not be passed in the National Assembly.

He urged Coast leaders to stop calling for independence and concentrate on what they were elected to do – serving Kenyans.

"Secession won't go anywhere. Kenya will remain united. Let these people seeking secession first clean up their towns," Mr Dzoro said.

Some Coast leaders led by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi on Friday announced that they will start the process of breaking away from Kenya so the region can attain self-rule.

COSTLY

Kenya Livestock Marketing Council chairman Dubat Amey said the former Northern Frontier District knows too well the consequences of trying to secede from Kenya.

"The two governors calling for secession are privileged to be first governors in their respective counties. If they want to do something for Coast people they have a lot of money at their disposal," he said.

“We were the first people to ask for secession and we know the cost. It is very dangerous and very costly. The leaders agitating for this should not be cheated by the comfort of the lives they have today."

Mr Amey said that the talks on secession should be stopped, as devolution can address the disparities that had been cited by the Coast leaders as one of the reasons for the clamour for self-rule.