Annex Testimonies Akeyo Akeyo was born in Kenya to the Kamba tribe. When she was 26 years old she was able to acquire a Kenyan National Identity Card by submitting a copy of her grandfather’s national identity card as proof of her entitlement to Kenyan nationality. In 1990, Akeyo married Hélder, a member of the Makonde community. Together they have five children, aged 29, 28, 19, 14 and 13 years. Although Akeyo remembers that citizenship-related documents were not of great importance when she was growing up, they are of great value in the present day. Akeyo has tried to help her two oldest children acquire a Kenyan national identity card, which is the only valid proof of Kenyan citizenship for adults and necessary to enjoy rights and benefits related to citizenship. However, when she applied, the Registrar refused to issue them with IDs, telling her: “their father is a Makonde man so he cannot have Kenyan nationality. The children therefore cannot have Kenyan nationality either.” At this time, Akeyo did not know that as a Kenyan national, she was permitted to pass on her nationality to her children, irrespective of the nationality status of her husband. Out of desperation, Akeyo again decided to reapply for Kenyan national identity cards for her children without including her husband’s name on the application form. When she went to submit the form, she was asked for her husband’s name and the name of his tribe. On this occasion, even though she gave her husband’s real name and noted that he was from the Makonde community, she was nevertheless issued with national identity cards for her two oldest children without any further questions being asked. Recently, Akeyo has also been successful in acquiring birth certificates for her three youngest children, after the district area commissioner announced an initiative for the issuance of such certificates in the community. Even Hélder has recently been able to acquire a birth certificate. However, Akeyo is saddened by the fact that she is still unable to confer her Kenyan nationality to her husband of over 20 years. She says: “Because my husband cannot get a Kenyan national ID he can only take the worst, most lowly paid jobs. He is hardworking and intelligent, but all of this goes down the drain because he doesn’t have the papers he needs to get a good job. It is left to me to find work to feed all the mouths in my family.” Akeyo remembers how Hélder lost land when his first wife died and her relatives took over their property, knowing that he lacked the nationality status to be a property owner. She recalls “the hardship we have faced and continue to face. We cannot succeed in life because my husband cannot get my nationality.” Crying, she confesses that “all of this puts a huge pressure on our marriage sometimes there is a lot of anger and my husband even acts violently towards us because he is just so frustrated.” Akeyo firmly believes that many of their problems would be solved if Hélder was able to acquire Kenyan citizenship. It would help them live on more equal terms and benefit from physical, social and economic security.