The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government has revealed that troubled Nairobi lawyer, Miguna Miguna, had renounced his citizenship prior to his deportation on Tuesday.
Mwenda Njoka, the ministry's spokesperson, further stated that Miguna never bothered to reclaim it in a legal manner.
"Miguna denounced his Kenyan citizenship years back, acquired Canadian citizenship & never bothered to reclaim Kenyan citizenship in the legally prescribed manner neither did he disclose that he had another country’s citizenship despite being a lawyer who should have known better," responded Njoka on Twitter.
[caption caption="Miguna Miguna at Kajiado Law Courts on Tuesday"]
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Miguna was deported from Kenya to Canada aboard a KLM flight minutes to 10 pm on Tuesday despite the High Court ordering his release earlier in the day.
Lawyer Donald Kipkorir criticised the Ministry for his deportation, stating that a citizen by birth cannot lose citizenship.
"Under Article 16 of the Constitution, a Kenyan by birth even if dual Citizen, can never lose his citizenship...Under Article 17, a foreigner who acquired Kenyan citizenship can lose it ... Miguna’s deportation violates our Constitution," he noted.
He further added that no Kenyan has the capacity to renounce citizenship.
"Matiang’i, Kenyans by birth don’t have legal capacity to renounce Kenyan citizenship. Even if forced by circumstances like Miguna’s political exile, or our athletes for money becoming Qataris, citizenship by birth is eternal.
"You don’t cease being black because you’ve bleached," stated Mr Kipkorir.
[caption caption="Lawyer Donald Kipkorir"]
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Mr Miguna, on Tuesday, narrated how he was held incommunicado for five days without access to his family or a lawyer following his arrest last Friday.
He added that police officers humiliated him by locking him up in conditions “unfit for human existence.”
