Acquisition of nationality through naturalization taskforce made up of multiple ministerial departments and agencies to examine statelessness in Kenya.112 With assistance from UNHCR, the taskforce identified stateless persons from Makonde communities and other groups living in Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa and Taita Taveta counties and gathered data through questionnaires and focus group discussions. The taskforce’s subsequent report recommended that the Makonde be registered and given Kenyan citizenship.113 In July 2016, the Makonde community, supported by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), a civil society organization, petitioned President Kenyatta. The petition, containing about 300 signatures from affected members of the Makonde community, documented the history of the Makonde and showed their positive contribution to Kenya and its culture that could be greatly enhanced with the grant of Kenyan citizenship, as well as detailing all their previous attempts to be registered and given Kenyan citizenship. MARCH FOR CITIZENSHIP IN OCTOBER 2016 To spur action on the demands made in their petition, in October 2016, with the support of KHRC, around 300 Makonde people embarked on a four-day trek from Makongeni village in Kwale to Nairobi with the intention of seeking an audience before President Kenyatta and presenting a new petition. The new petition expressed gratitude for the establishment of an interdepartmental task force and requested the immediate publication of its Makonde report. The petition noted that although the 2011 Act provided a pathway for persons who have been in Kenya since 12 December 1963 to be recognized as Kenyans, no stateless persons had been registered to date as citizens pursuant to that law. The Makonde called on the President’s office to ensure that the Makonde people and all stateless persons in Kenya be recognized as Kenyan citizens, ensure that stateless persons be documented, adopt clear legislation on the procedure for stateless persons to acquire citizenship of Kenya, and establish a national action plan to address the issue of ending statelessness in Kenya. 112 Including the Directorate of Immigration and Registration of Persons, the National Registration Bureau, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the Refugee Affairs Secretariat, Civil Registration Services and the National Intelligence Services. 113 Radha Govil, ‘I feel like I am born again’: citizenship brings hope to stateless minority in Kenya, UNHCR, 6 November 2017, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2017/11/59f9a6c94/feel-born-citizenship-brings-hope-stateless-minoritykenya.html 72 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