STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY Mozambican migrants to Kenya, and promised to consider other groups. Other groups, however, have yet to benefit from similar initiatives. Descendants of pre-independence Mozambican migrants in Kwale County There is a community of approximately 3,500 descendants of migrant workers recruited from Mozambique during the 1950s to work on sisal plantations in what is now Kwale County near Mombasa. These workers, mainly from the Makonde ethnic group, did not automatically become Kenyan under the transitional provisions on independence. Although most would have been eligible to register as citizens, they did not do so; whether because of the cost, because they expected to return to Mozambique, or because they did not hear of the requirement. They have not been able to obtain Kenyan identity documents. The Mozambican consulate in Mombasa has sought out this group to register them to vote in Mozambican elections, but many do not wish to hold Mozambican citizenship (or at least not at the cost of not being able to hold Kenyan citizenship).183 Following a report on their situation published by UNHCR in collaboration with national civil society groups in early 2015, the National Registration Bureau (NRB) led an investigation by a government task force, which recommended to the cabinet that they should be registered as Kenyan.184 In October 2016, following a cabinet discussion and decision on this report, which coincided with a four-day protest march at the lack of any action in their case from the Makonde settlements near Mombasa to Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta finally promised the community registration as Kenyan citizens.185 The temporary registration provisions for stateless persons and long term residents that had recently expired had also just been extended for a further three years.186 A notice was issued specifically exempting the Makonde from payment of registration fees;187 authorised by a general amendment to the citizenship regulations.188 Individual registration of the Makonde commenced in November.189 Ultimately, 1,492 people (adults and children) were given certificates of nationality, among whom 1,176 adults were issued Kenyan national identity cards.190 Those rejected for registration included individuals who had Mozambican voter registration documents; during this process a number of previously issued ID cards acquired had to be “deactivated” to enable new ones to be issued following the formal registration process.191 Those Makonde married to Kenyans were told to apply for registration as the spouse of a national, requiring them to undergo a more onerous application process without the exemption from registration fees.192 183 “Kenya: Makondes Say Mozambique Blocking Their Bid to Be Recognised As Kenyans”, Daily Nation, 20 April 2016; Tobias Chanji, “Mozambicans living in Kenya for 60 years refuse envoys call to vote in Mozambique’s election”, The Standard (Nairobi), 30 July 2014. 184 Integrated, But Undocumented: A study into the nationality status of the Makonde community in Kenya, UNHCR Representation in Kenya, in partnership with Haki Centre, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Haki Africa, Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa, February 2015. Interview with NRB Director, June 2015. 185 Wanja Lisa Munaita, “Kenya’s stateless Makonde people finally obtain papers”, UNHCR, 27 October 2016; Diana Gichengo, “The Arduous Journey of the Makonde to Kenyan Citizenship”, KHRC, 9 November 2016, available at Citizenship Rights Africa website: http://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/the-arduous-journey-of-the-makonde-to-kenyan-citizenship/. 186 Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act: Legal Notice No. 178, Extension of Time, 7 October 2016. 187 Gazette Notice No. 8768: The Births and Deaths Registration Act, Declaration, 28 October 2016. 188 Kenya Citizenship and Immigration (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (published 30 December 2016), amending Regulation 10 of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Regulations, 2012. 189 Wanja Munaita, “Mission to coordinate, monitor and support the registration of the Makonde of Kenya in Kwale and Kilifi Counties”, UNHCR, November 2016. 48 190 Email communication from the Director, National Registration Bureau, June 2018. 191 Input at Arusha workshop, 20 March 2017. 192 According to reports from those present at the registration, November 2016. UNHCR / September 2018