Acquisition of nationality through naturalization some Kenyans of Somali ethnicity, coastal Arabs, the Waata,75 Daasanach,76 Pare77, Sakuye78, and Munyoyaya79 whose access to Kenyan identity documents is limited.80 As the good practices in Kenya to date primarily relate to resolution of the statelessness of the Makonde population, this chapter will focus on these efforts. The first generation of the Makonde community arrived in Kenya during the first half of the twentieth century from Northern Mozambique, recruited by the British Government during the colonial period to work mainly on sisal, sugar and other plantations in the coastal counties of Kwale and Kilifi, and in the hills of Taita Teveta.81 Other Makonde came to Kenya as exiled freedom fighters and refugees from the Mozambican civil war. In both situations, their descendants remained in Kenya.82 When Kenya gained independence in 1963, transitional provisions were established governing who automatically became a citizen of Kenya at independence. Automatic acquisition of citizenship applied to a person born in Kenya who at the time of independence was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British protected person, provided one parent was also born in Kenya.83 The Makonde did not automatically become Kenyan under these transitional provisions, since few were born in the country or had parents born in the country. Individuals who did not automatically qualify as citizens but met certain conditions could register as Kenyans within two years, until 12 December 1965.84 Many of the Makonde were eligible to register as citizens, but did not do so for various reasons, including due to the costs involved, because they eventually expected to return to Mozambique, or because they were unaware of the requirement to register for citizenship.85 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Living in Tana River, Lamu counties and at the border with Somalia. Living in Turkana country and at the border with Ethiopia. Living in Taita Taveta county and at the border with Tanzania. Living in Marsabit and Isiolo Counties. Living in Tana River. The nationality of populations living in border regions is often contested because they are on both sides of the border. In addition to contested nationality, the Government does not have registration offices in the areas where they reside, leaving them with very limited options to seek identification documents and birth certificates UNHCR, “This is Our Home”: Stateless Minorities and Their Search for Citizenship, 2017, page 40, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/UNHCR_EN2_2017IBELONG_Report_ePub.pdf. Ibid. Constitution of Kenya 1963, Section 1(1); Bronwen Manby, Statelessness and Citizenship in the East African Community, UNHCR, September 2018, page 47, available at: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/66807 Constitution of Kenya 1963, Art. 2. Available at: http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/1963_Constitution.pdf Bronwen Manby, Statelessness and Citizenship in the East African Community, UNHCR, September 2018, page 48, available at: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/66807 U N H C R > G P P A C T I O N 1 : R E S O LV I N G E X I S T I N G M A J O R S I T U AT I O N S O F S TAT E L E S S N E S S 65