All who qualify for citizenship should be granted the status

Members of civil society and the Makonde community, originally from Mozambique, on October 10, 2016 in a trek from Lunga Lunga in Kwale to State House in Nairobi to seek audience with President Uhuru Kenyatta, whom they hoped would help them get registered as Kenyan citizens. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Wes should collate all the necessary details of these people and classify them into appropriate categories.
  • There are people who are married to Kenyans and, therefore, qualify to apply for citizenship as spouses.
  • Children born to a stateless person and a Kenyan citizen are Kenyans.
  • People with identification documents from their country of ancestry fall under the category of migrants and, therefore, qualify to apply for citizenship and become dual nationals.
  • This leaves a small group that is stateless for whom the government can expedite the process of gaining citizenship

The Makonde of Kwale county were last week in the news when they marched to State House, Nairobi, to agitate to be recognised as citizens. Subsequently, the President and the Cabinet directed that their documentation be processed. 

According to the Constitution, Kenyan citizenship may be acquired only in two ways: by birth (by virtue of at least one parent being Kenyan) or registration. Citizenship by birth cannot be lost under any circumstances, while citizenship by registration can be revoked.

The Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, 2011 sets the criteria for stateless persons and migrants to acquire citizenship. Section 15 is clear that only persons who have no enforceable claim to citizenship of any recognisable state and have been living in Kenya since December 12, 1963, can become citizens under the “stateless persons” claim.

This section also sets basic standards to be met by the applicant as: adequate knowledge of Kiswahili or local dialect, not being convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of three years or longer, intention of permanently residing in Kenya or maintaining a close and continuing association with Kenya, and an understanding of the rights and duties of a citizen.

It is important to note that there are limits to the period that this window of stateless persons acquiring citizenship is open.

EIGHT YEARS

According to section 16 of the Immigration Act, this is capped at a maximum of eight years from August 30, 2016, when the Act came into effect. The initial period of five years commenced from August 30, 2011 but can be extended for three years to August 30, 2018.

Citizenship by registration under any status, including statelessness, must be done in accordance with the law and cannot be issued to groups but to individual applicants. The Makondes, Nubians, Somalis, Shonas, Indians, and pockets of Rwandese and Burudians that fall under the stateless status should apply for citizenship because it cannot be issued to them automatically.

The government, in line with the President’s directive, should come up with a simplified process that can be done without the usual bureaucracy. Granting of citizenship is a function of the Executive, and as long as it is done according to the law, the tedious bureaucracy should be shelved to enable deserving persons to acquire it.

The human rights organisations that have been agitating for the issuance of citizenship to groups should focus on trying to identify individuals in those communities who meet the requirements and help them to apply for citizenship. They should then push the government to expedite the process before the eight-year window lapses.

COLLATE DETAILS

I propose that, first, we collate all the necessary details of these people and classify them into appropriate categories. Second, there are those who are married to Kenyans and, therefore, qualify to apply for citizenship as spouses. Third, children born to a stateless person and a Kenyan citizen are Kenyans. Fourth, those with identification documents from their country of ancestry fall under the category of migrants and, therefore, qualify to apply for citizenship and become dual nationals. That leaves a small group that is stateless for whom the government can expedite the process.

It is incumbent upon the government and local leaders to take a fresh look at the issue of statelessness in Kenya with the aim of addressing it once and for all. Parliament should resolve this matter so that all Kenyans, including those classified as stateless, can achieve the aspiration of living as true citizens, enjoying all the rights and freedoms.

I am not sure if the President can in one stroke order all stateless persons in Kenya to become citizens but he has the powers to simplify the process for them. Citizenship is, indeed, a crucial element in the enjoyment of the rights of individuals and communities. Therefore, all those who qualify should be granted this status.

 

George Mucee is an immigration consultant and practice leader, Fragomen Kenya.