http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000058873&story_title=Close%20parallels%20in%20Eritrea,%20Pwani%20storylines
Close parallels in Eritrea, Pwani storylines
By Dominic Odipo
In 1962, only one year before Kenya formally annexed the ten-mile Coastal Strip, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia unilaterally dissolved the parliament of Eritrea and formally turned that region into just another of Ethiopia’s provinces.
The Eritreans, who saw themselves as a separate people and had developed a distinct sense of cultural identity and superiority vis-a-vis the Ethiopians, did not like being annexed but there was nothing they could do about it at the time.
After this forced annexation, Haile Selassie deposed the Eritrean chief executive, made his language, Amharic, the official language of the region instead of Arabic and Tigrinya, forbade the use of the Eritrean flag and relocated numerous enterprises and industries out of the region.
Eritrea, then as now, was a region of many religions with the lowlands near the Red Sea occupied mainly by Muslims while the Christians lived in the highlands.
In response to what they perceived as foreign Ethiopian dictatorshipand oppression, Eritreans began to resist, both intellectually and physically. A number of resistance movements which had been founded earlier to oppose the British colonial rulers began engaging in clandestine political and military activities to defeat the dictatorial policies of the imperial Ethiopian state run from Addis Ababa.
In 1972, Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), a multi-ethnic resistance movement dominated by leftist, Christian dissidents, was formed to fight for the total independence of the region. Its driving philosophy was that Eritrea had actually never been a part of Ethiopia.
In 1980, the Permanent People’s Tribunal of Eritrea which had been convened by the EPLF, formally declared that the right of the Eritrean people to self-determination did not represent any form of secession.
To cut a long story short, after the collapse of the Ethiopian government led by Mengistu Haile Mariam in May, 1991 the EPLF, led by Isaias Afewerki, established the Provisional Government of Eritrea (PGE) to administer all Eritrean affairs until a referendum could be held to determine what state authority the Eritreans wanted to live under.
In the UN-monitored referendum in April, 1993, 99.83% of all who voted said they wanted Eritrea to be an independent state. Today Eritrea is, indeed, an independent state led by President Afewerki with its capital at Asmara and its main port at Massawa on the Red Sea. Ethiopia, which used to have a coastline on the Red Sea only 20 years ago is today a landlocked country.
Those among us who still think that what we are hearing from the leaders of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) is just a storm in a teacup need to study the contemporary history of Eritrea very closely.
What happened in Eritrea could happen here. We could very soon wake up to find that Kenya, like Ethiopia, has no coastline. We could soon find that, if you come from Nairobi, you need a passport and visa to get to Mombasa. As we have written in this column before, this MRC business is no joke.
upcountry people
There are similarities between Eritrea and our Coast which cannot fail to strike the discerning eye. First, Eritrea, like our Coast, is a coastal region, which can, therefore, easily be reached or supplied from the sea.
Second, Eritrea, like our Coast, comprises both Muslims, who inhabit the lowlands near the sea and the Christians, most of whom live in the higher areas.
Third, both Eritrea and our Coast were annexed by stronger, neighbouring powers without their people being consulted.
And, fourth, both Eritrea and our Coast were heavily exploited politically and economically by their respective “people from upcountry”. In the case of Eritrea, whole industries and even railway lines, were physically removed from the region.
In our case, thousands of acres of prime land were somehow acquired by certain people from upcountry or absentee landlords from overseas.
To be able to determine exactly how this MRC business should be handled, we need to start by asking the right questions.
Among some of the most important of these questions are:
One, why does this movement call itself the Mombasa Republican Council? Why Mombasa and not, say, Coast or Pwani Republican Council?
Two, when its leaders say ‘Pwani si Kenya”, what do they mean by Pwani in this context? Does Pwani here mean the old, ten-mile coastal strip which Kenya annexed from the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1963? Or does Pwani mean what we now know as Coast Province, covering such places as Wundanyi in Taita and Hola and Bura in Tana River County?
Three, is this MRC a basically Muslim operation or does it speak for the majority of all those who live in he coastal region who happen to be the Miji Kenda?
Finally, why are MRC leaders speaking with such defiant confidence in public? Might they already be enjoying foreign support, the way Iraq and Syria used to bankroll the Eritrean EPLF?
The writer is a lecturer and consultant in Nairobi.
dominicodipo_at_yahoo.co.uk
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Received on Mon May 28 2012 - 13:47:56 EDT
