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Dirib Gombo area in Marsabit County. He was examined and given a Kenyan identity
card. His parents were Kenyans and father was the holder of a Kenyan identity card
while his mother held Kenyan identity card. Therefore, the petitioner was a Kenyan
by birth. There was no evidence that the petitioner’s citizenship was cancelled in
accordance with section 21(2) of the Kenyan Citizenship and Immigration Act. Under
article 17(2) of the Constitution, it had to be established that the person who was
presumed to be a citizen by birth acquired the citizenship by fraud, false representation
or concealment (failure to disclose) of any material fact or it was established that the
person was a national of another country or his parentage was not Kenyan.
On whether the petitioner had a valid National
Identification Card, the court held that the petitioner’s Pleading guilty and being convicted of the
contention that his identity card was taken in 2004 was charge of being in Kenya illegally did not cancel
believable because that was the time he was arrested. The one’s citizenship. If a person’s parents were both
Kenyan citizens by birth, then the person would
petitioner had continuously been following up the issue be assumed to be a citizen by birth unless the
of his identity card. Though the petitioner had taken too contrary was proved
long to complain, the reality was that he had at all times
maintained that his identity card was taken by the police
in 2004. Indeed, he was given an identity card and Registrar of Persons in Marsabit
County confirmed that it was given to him. The identity card was given to him in
his capacity as a Kenyan by birth. Therefore, the petitioner was a Kenyan citizen by
birth and the identity card given to him in 2002 was not gotten through fraud or
misrepresentation of facts.
On the citizenship status of the petitioner, the court held that there was no single
document indicating that he was from Ethiopia or had ever lived in that county. In
2004 the Repealed Constitution did not allow dual citizenship. The letter dated June
16, 2019 did not state the reason for the invalidation of the petitioner’s records. It did
not make reference to the court case as the reason as to why his records were nullified.
The petitioner’s parents were Kenyans. They lived in Kenya. The petitioner lived in
Kenya. There was no evidence that he renounced his Kenyan citizenship and became
an Ethiopian. Even if the petitioner pleaded guilty to the charges of being in Kenya
illegally or was convicted that did not make him a non-Kenyan. He was a Kenyan
by birth and could not be stripped off his citizenship. The area chief and assistant
chief had confirmed that they knew the petitioner since childhood. The position
taken by the respondents that the petitioner pleaded guilty to being in Kenya illegally
was not a good reason for taking away the petitioner’s Kenyan citizenship by birth.
Citizenship came with several advantages. The petitioner’s children had been denied
birth certificates since their father’s ID card was invalidated. The petitioner’s mobile
registration was also cancelled and hence he could not enjoy the privileges which came
with the possession of an identity card.
The petitioner was a Kenyan citizen by birth. The court could not hold that he made
CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONALITY RIGHTS CASE DIGEST
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