Last Updated on January 21, 2025 by NewsTurkana
NAIROBI- The High Court ordered the government to erase the names of Kenyan citizens registered as refugees in Kakuma and Daadab camps for food rations from the database.
The judgment arose from a case filed in the High Court’s Constitutional Division in Garissa, where the petitioners—Haki and Sheria Initiative (1st petitioner), alongside Ahmed Mohamed Muhumud, Sahal Abdi Amin, and Deka Muktar Gure (2nd, 3rd, and 4th petitioners, respectively)—urged the government to remove certain Kenyans from the refugee list.
The petition argued that their registration as refugees had unjustly denied them access to essential government services.
In his ruling, Justice John Onyiego found that the government violated the constitutional rights of the affected Kenyans by failing to deregister them from the refugee list.
”A declaration be and is hereby issued that refusal by the respondents to deregister the 3rd and 4th petitioners from the refugees’ database even after being vetted and declared to be Kenyan citizens is unconstitutional and an infringement of their constitutional rights under Article 14 (1) of the constitution,” Justice Onyiego ruled.
Justice Onyiego further ruled that the affected Kenyans be recognised as citizens by birth, having been born in Kenya.
”A declaration be and is hereby issued that the 3rd and 4th petitioners are Kenyan citizens by birth as provided under Article 14(1) of the constitution and are entitled to the rights of a citizen as provided under Article 12(1) of the constitution,” the ruling read in part.
The court also criticised the government for delaying the issuance of basic identification documents, such as national IDs to the affected citizens stating that this denial infringed on their fundamental rights.
”A declaration be and is hereby issued that failure by the respondents to act or give sufficient reasons within a reasonable time why the 2nd, 3rd and 4th petitioners could not be issued with identification documents such as an ID card is unconstitutional and in breach of Article 47 of the constitution,” the ruling added.
As a result, the government has been directed to issue national IDs to the affected Kenyans within 60 days from the date of the ruling, effective January 21.
”That an order of mandamus be and is hereby issued directed at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents to facilitate registration and issuance of identification documents interalia ID card and or passport to the 3rd and 4th petitioners within 60 days from the date of this judgment,” Justice Onyiego directed.
”That an order of mandamus be and is hereby issued to the respondents to deregister within 60 days names of victims of double registration who have been screened, vetted, cleared, and declared to be Kenyan citizens from the refugees’ database,” he added.
The Attorney General’s Office, the Interior Cabinet Secretary, the Director of the National Registration Bureau, and the Commission for Refugee Affairs represented the government in the case.
SOURCE: Kenyans.co.ke
