Aisha Aisha is a Kenyan citizen from Mombasa. She has six children aged between 4 and 26 years of age. Her first three children are from her first marriage with a Kenyan man and the second three from her current marriage to Thomas, a man from the Makonde community. They have been married for 16 years. Aisha’s first husband was a Kenyan citizen and her eldest three children, all adults, have proof that they are Kenyan citizens. Her second husband was born in Kenya but his parents came to the country from Tanzania more than 60 years ago, before independence. According to Aisha, “my husband should also be considered a Kenyan citizen because he was born in Kenya, his whole family lives in Kenya and he is married to a Kenyan woman.” In 2010, Aisha delivered her youngest child in hospital and was issued with a hospital birth notification, as had been the case for her fourth and fifth children. However, in order to get birth certificates for them, she was required to present the Kenyan national identity cards of both parents. Because Thomas is from the Makonde community and unable to get a Kenyan national identity card, they could not meet this requirement and their children remained uncertified. After that, Aisha posed as a single mother in order to get birth certificates for her three youngest children. In 2012, Aisha tried to get a Kenyan ID for Thomas. Knowing the difficulties they would face because he was a Makonde, they agreed that Aisha’s mother, who holds a Kenyan identity card, would pose as Thomas’ mother so that the officials would believe that he was entitled to Kenyan citizenship. Even though they paid a bribe, Thomas only received a waiting slip. When Aisha went to collect the ID, the registrars shouted abuse and said that they would never issue a Kenyan national ID to a Makonde man. Aisha says: “Without a Kenyan national ID, Thomas is exploited. He is a wood sculptor, but he cannot set up a good business without proof of his nationality. When customers place large orders for sculptures and then don’t pay, the law is never there to help because he is seen as an outsider.” Without a reliable income from her husband, the family suffers. They do not have enough money to go to the doctor and rely on traditional remedies, which only work some of the time. Aisha volunteers as a cleaner at her children’s school so that they can have an education. Aisha says “even if officials do not agree that my husband is Kenyan because he was born in the country, as his wife of more than 15 years I should have the right to pass my nationality to him.” But Aisha says that they are poor and uneducated and don’t know where they can turn for help. She says: “At least my children are still young – they do not yet have to face the real consequences of life without Kenyan nationality.”