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MOMBASA REPUBLICAN COUNCIL( MRC )
Its cited as an illegal group in kenyan that is seeking seccession of the Coastal provice to become and independent state. The group has based its argurments on the previous injustice done on the coastal province.

KENYATTA AGREEMENT WITH PRIME MINISTER OF ZANZIBAR The agreement was signed in London on 5th October, 1963 and Kenyatta placed on record the following undertakings by the government of Kenya.

(1) That free exercise of any creed or religion will at all times be safeguarded and, in particular, His Highness’s present subjects who are the Muslim faith and their descendants will at all times be ensured of complete freedom of worship and the preservation of their own religious buildings and institutions

(2) The jurisdiction of Chief Kadhis will at all times be preserved and will be extended to the determination of questions of Muslim law relating to personal status in the proceedings in which all parties profess the Muslim religion The agreements are presented as appendix to presentation in British Parliament by Secretary of State for Colonies in October 1963. Kenya Coastal Strip: Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom, His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar, the Government of Kenya and the Government of Zanzibar. Cmnd. 2161.(London: H. M. Stationary Office, 1963).

(3) The freehold titles to land in the coast region that are already registered will at all times be recognized, steps will be taken to ensure the continuation of the procedure for the registration of new freehold titles and rights of freeholders will at all times be preserved save for so far as it may be necessary to acquire freehold land for public purposes, in which event full and prompt compensation will be paid. This document was signed by Jomo Kenyatta and Mohammed Shamte, Prime Minister of Zanzibar. As a follow up to this agreement, on 8th October, 1963 the two Prime Ministers and the Sultan of Zanzibar His Highness Seyyid Jamshid bin Abdula signed a joint agreement with the S of S for Colonies Duncan Sandays to revoke 1890 and1895 agreements it was agreed further that:

(1) The territories comprised in the Kenya protectorate shall cease to form part of His Highness dominions and shall   thereuponform part of Kenya (2) The agreement of 14th June 1890 in so far as it applies to those territories and the agreement of 14th December 1895 shall cease to have effect.

In 1886, the Anglo-German Treaty was signed between Britain and Germany to determine their spheres of influence in East Africa. Since none of them wanted to be in direct conflict with the sultan of Zanzibar, they decided to allocate him ten miles coastal strip running from Kipini in the north to Ruvuma River in the south. The Germans thereafter paid for the right to use the sultan’s ten mile possession on the German East African section. The British on the other hand opted to pay annual rent to the sultan equivalent to the amount of tax collected by sultan in that part adjacent to East Africa protectorate(EAP). The complexity of this treaty came into focus in 1920 when the British government wanted to change the status of EAP into a colony. The British realized that the ten miles coastal strip could not be annexed without causing international conflict because of the various treaties that the sultan had entered with various powers guaranteeing their sovereignty and control over her coastal dominions. Thus, the colonial government went for a quick fix by renaming the territory, Colony and Protectorate of Kenya. The protectorate designated the ten miles coastal strip while all the land from the ten miles became the colony. It was this quick fix that later reared its ugly face at the time of independence when the Arabs in the coastal strip rejected to be incorporated in independent Kenya. They wanted to secede to join fellow Arab administration at Zanzibar. Just like the colonialists, Kenyatta went for another quick fix by signing an agreement with the then Prime Minister of Zanzibar guaranteeing land ownership to sultans’ subjects at the expense of African inhabitants who for many centuries had remained as squatters.

Consequently, land at the coast has become so expensive to an extent that ordinary people cannot afford. It is argued that a solution has to be found to contain the recurrent land conflicts experienced every election year.

In fact, these land injustices have been caused by the same treaty MRC is using to advocate for succession. Only the Arabs wanted to secede from Kenya at the times of independence, fearing their land would be confiscated by the new Kenyatta govt. Kenyatta, signed the treaty as a commitment not to revoke land tittles belonging to the Arabs(Thus causing the current problems of absentee landlords and perpetuating squatters).

Where 's the secession issue coming from? MRC is thus an Arab vehicle now boarded by their grand children who fear the establishment of a land commission threatens their land ownership as it will address these past injustices, which will see some of their land being redistributed to Mijikendas to address the squatter problem. It has nothing to do with the local African natives' interests of the Coast.

The full agreement signed is

http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/pdfs/2010/05/Kenya_Coastal_Strip_Agreement_%28UK_Zanzibar_and_Kenya_Governments%29_8th_October_1963.pdf