Nasa politician Miguna Miguna in citizenship controversy
The self-declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) "general" Miguna Miguna who was 'deported' to Canada on Tuesday night, had not renounced his Kenyan citizenship.
This is according to his sensational book, Peeling Back the Mask, which he published shortly after his falling-out with the then Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM wing of the grand coalition government in 2011.
At the time, Mr Miguna argued that the PNU party, which at the time was part of the coalition government with ODM, had orchestrated the allegations with plans to deport him.
KENYAN BY BIRTH
“I am a Kenyan by birth. I have never renounced my citizenship. Citizenship isn’t determined on the basis of passports,” he writes.
“Many people, including Nelson Mandela, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga, Robert Mugabe, Koigi Wamwere and Ngugi wa Thiong’o have travelled on other countries’ passports; that didn’t change their citizenship. My case isn’t different.” he argues in the book.
NEXUS, a Twitter page that has in the past been used by government officials to issue communication, said Mr Miguna renewed his Canadian passport in June last year.
Interior ministry spokesperson Mwenda Njoka said in a tweet on Tuesday, that the lawyer also failed to disclose that he was a holder of another country’s citizenship.
“Mr Miguna denounced his Kenyan citizenship years back, acquired Canadian citizenship and never bothered to reclaim Kenyan citizenship in the legally prescribed manner,” Mr Mwenda said on Twitter.
A senior government official told Nation.co.ke that when Mr Miguna was arrested, the Canadian government had written to Kenya expressing concerns that their citizen was being harassed and they wanted him back.
Mr Miguna is a barrister in Canada, where he holds citizenship. The Constitution, which was enacted in 2010, allows for dual citizenship.
According to chapter three of the Constitution, citizenship may be acquired by birth or registration.
In the case of birth, a person is a citizen if on the day of their birth, whether or not the person is born in Kenya, either the mother or father of the person is a citizen.
This, the law argues, also applies to a person born in Kenya or outside the country, as long as either the mother or father of the person is or was a citizen.
Alternatively, a person who is a Kenyan citizen by birth and who, on the effective date, has ceased to be a Kenyan citizen because the person acquired the citizenship of another country, is entitled on application to regain Kenyan citizenship.
