Miguna will have to re-apply for citizenship: Immigration boss
What you need to know:
- Dr Kihalang’wa said a passport is the property of the government and can be withdrawn any time for various reasons.
- Dr Kihalang’wa said he had not been served with court orders reversing the revocation of Senator Orengo and Jimi Wanjigi's passports.
The self-declared leader of the National Resistance Movement, Dr Miguna Miguna, will have to re-apply for Kenyan citizenship, the Immigration boss has told a parliamentary committee vetting his elevation to Principal Secretary.
Major-General (rtd) Gordon Kihalang’wa told MPs that when Dr Miguna fled Kenya to Canada in 1986, he lost his citizenship as Kenya had not yet adopted the dual citizenship system.
“It is true Dr Miguna was born in Kenya. But when he left the country in 1986, he negated all other processes that made him Kenyan,” Dr Kihalang’wa said when asked why the government had deported Dr Miguna.
PASSPORTS
Dr Kihalang’wa, who was among seven Principal Secretary nominees vetted on Wednesday, said there was no ill-motive on the deportation.
“Everything I do is in the best interest of the country. I am a law-abiding citizen who respects the rule of law,” Dr Kihalang’wa said.
The government had earlier said that after the new Constitution came into force, Kenyans who had lost their citizenship as a result of acquiring other nationalities were required to officially apply afresh to regain their citizenship, something that Dr Miguna did not do.
Dr Kihalang’wa also defended the move to suspend the passports of 21 Nasa supporters and MPs, saying a passport is the property of the government and can be withdrawn any time for various reasons.
REVENUE
He told the committee for Defence and Foreign Relations that out of the 21 people whose passports were cancelled, only Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri had surrendered his passport to the Immigration department.
On the hitch encountered by Siaya Senator James Orengo and businessman Jimi Wanjigi while travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, to attend the funeral of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Dr Kihalang’wa said he had not been served with court orders reversing the revocation of their passports.
He told the MPs that under his reign at the Immigration department, the revenue collected had increased from Sh7 billion to Sh10.5 billion due to automation of services.
Meanwhile, Mr Nelson Marwa, the nominee for Principal Secretary, Devolution, said supply of relief food is controlled by cartels.
The former Coast Regional Commissioner told the Finance, Trade and Planning Committee that people in Kilifi would sometimes wait for three days for lorries to deliver relief food from Kwale.
