64 • powers as the capacity to make such determination was with the 2nd respondent’s officers and not the court. The petition was partly allowed. The court directed for the petitioner’s application to be considered on its merit at the place lodged. The court issued a declaration that the respondents violated the petitioner’s rights to fair administrative action by not affording the petitioner a hearing and not giving written reasons for the denial of the identification card. 21. The court could not compel immigration authorities to register a person as a citizen where that person was already legally designated as a refugee. Abdikadir Salat Gedi v Principal Registrar of Persons and Another Judicial Review Miscellaneous Application No.15 of 2012 High Court of Kenya at Garissa SN Mutuku, J March 31, 2014 Even where one was a Kenyan by birth, should one register as a refugee for whatever reason, the court was not in a position to order for the person’s citizenship status to be changed from refugee to a citizen. Summary of facts The applicant claimed that he was a Kenyan citizen by birth, born to parents who were Kenyan citizens and who had Kenyan national identity cards. He alleged that he was misled to register as a refugee at IFO Refugee Camp using the name Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim in order to get food rations. When he applied for a Kenyan national identity card he was not able to obtain it. The applicant made a statutory declaration to clarify his status as a Kenyan citizen and obtained a letter from the Chief of Damaljaf location confirming that he was a resident there. The applicant tried to be registered as a citizen, however the authorities found that he had previously registered as a refugee and as a result, denied his application. The applicant claimed that the Principal Registrar of Persons’ and the Commissioner for Refugee Affairs’ (hereafter referred to as respondents) refusal to deregister him as a refugee and to issue him with the identity card was beyond their powers, an error in law, in bad faith, an abuse of power, irrational, biased, illegal, oppressive and was against his legitimate expectations. CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONALITY RIGHTS CASE DIGEST