ODM leader Raila Odinga has come to the defence of President Uhuru Kenyatta's appointee, Mwende Mwinzi as Kenya’s ambassador to South Korea.
In a long post penned on his social media pages, the former prime minister stated that MP's demand, that she denounces her US citizenship, was extremely suspicious.
"It is against this background that I find the treatment of Ms Mwende Mwinzi by our Parliament extremely disturbing and dubious.
"The whole debate around whether she qualifies to be Kenya’s ambassador has cast her as a criminal and reduced her to being less Kenyan than the Members of Parliament, while the spirit of letter of the law should protect her," he wrote.
Some MPs alleged that Ms Mwinzi should be disqualified because she had dual citizenship.
The opposition leader further stated that Uhuru's appointee was born in the US and to a Kenyan father, justifying the two citizenships.
"She thus ended up with being a citizen of two countries. However, she cannot denounce any because both have been acquired not by application and naturalization, but by operation of the law. She cannot undo her birth in the USA; neither can she undo her sire by her father or his Kenyan citizenship," Odinga added.
The opposition leader further stated that the constitution protected those who had dual citizenship in holding a position as a state officer.
"Furthermore, under the constitution today, anyone borne of a Kenyan parent is automatically a Kenyan citizen, regardless of whether they are born in Kenya or not. Under the current constitution, she is a citizen of Kenya by birth even if she was born in America," he continued.
Raila urged MPs to always stand by the law and the interest of the nation.
"Other than petty vendetta and a refusal by our Parliament to rise above partisan interests and act in the interest of the nation, there is no reason whatsoever for MPs to maintain that Ms Mwende Mwinzi cannot be our ambassador abroad," he concluded.
