High Court orders return of EALA MP’s passport after alleged deportation to Somalia

The High Court in Nairobi has ordered the return of a Kenyan passport belonging to East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament Abdirahman Bashir Shariff, who claims he was denied entry into Kenya and sent back to Somalia after arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Justice Mburu directed the respondents to release and return Shariff’s Kenyan passport, number CK114667, to him or his advocates within 24 hours of being served with the order.

Shariff, through lawyer Ceceil Miller, has petitioned the court, arguing that he is a Kenyan citizen by birth and that the State had no legal authority to prevent him from returning to the country. The case has raised questions over the rights of Kenyan citizens who also hold citizenship of another country, invoking Article 16 of the Constitution, which provides that a citizen by birth does not lose Kenyan citizenship by acquiring citizenship of another country.

Brief written by urgent.news from Capital FM Kenya's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.