Nyali MP Hezron Awiti and his Kaloleni counterpart Gunga Mwinga on Monday led mnazi vendors in protests against harassment by police.
The MPs asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and help mnazi vendors just as he did for miraa traders.
“The way President Uhuru boarded the plane to Somalia over the miraa issue should is same way he should board a plane to Coast over this mnazi issue,” said Awiti, who enjoys cordial relations with Uhuru.
Speaking after attending a court case over the matter, Awiti said mnazi is a traditional brew with no additives and is not illegal.
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Mnazi vendors at the Coast want the court to issue a temporary injunction to restrain Kisauni police boss and the Nyali OCS from harassing mnazi sellers and their clients pending the High Court case hearing.
Two people, Stephen Baya and Tumaini Masha, went to the Mombasa High Court on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of mnazi vendors from Coast region seeking orders to have the drink declared legal.
They further want police to be stopped from harassing mnazi sellers and clients.
Baya and Masha in the suit papers accused police of demanding bribes of up to Sh10,000.
But the Attorney General, through counsel Richard Ngari, said the orders being sought are frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.
Ngari said the orders are against the Director of Public Prosecutions’ Office, whereas, the office is not part of the suit.
Outside the court, Awiti said his Nyali constituency and Mvita constituency are the most affected.
“So why are mnazi vendors always harassed and fined up to Sh60,000 after being arrested with a Sh20 bottle of mnazi? That is not right,” Awiti said.
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Mwinga accused officers from Nyali, Bamburi and Dog Section police station for being the most notorious.
“They have made as they arbitrarily arrest vendors in order to extort money from them,” said Mwinga, who is also the Coast Parliamentary Group chairman.
He warned the Jubilee administration saying their effort to woo the Coast to Jubilee wil be fruitless if they do not address the mnazi issue, a major economic activity for the Mijikenda community who have at least 700,000 votes in the region.