Secession threat hits Kenya

Threats of secession are looming in some parts of Kenya, as leaders from the coastal region seek separation from the country using legal means.

Secession, which has both political and legal consequences, involves a group’s declaring independence from the ruling government and assuming a new state entirely.

While the separatists seek freedom for its people, the governing authorities view such action as a “divisive and treasonous challenge”.

Though supporters of secession may point to the right for self-determination in this regard, international law does not readily support the rise of factions seeking to break away from a sovereign state.

There is also the need for other sovereign states to accept such separation for its claim to statehood to be complete.

Kenya’s constitution stipulates that the country should live in peace and unity as a single, indivisible sovereign nation.

It contemplates addition to the territory, rather than the reduction from it in any form including secession.

The report points to article five of the Kenyan constitution which states that “the territory of Kenya shall consist of the land and territorial waters which were under the Republic of Kenya on the date that the Constitution took effect or any additional land which may be defined by an Act of Parliament”.