Dual Citizenship.
11/24/2009
Open Letter to
The Speaker, Kenya Parliament.
RE: TREAT DUAL CITIZENSHIP LIKE ANY OTHER BILL:
In 1980 the Union for the Kenya Civil Servants was invalidated through a Presidential Decree. In 1982 section 2A which transformed Kenya into a one Party state, was enacted. In 1986 the security of tenure for the offices of the Attorney General, the Judges, the Public Service Commission, the office of the Controller and Auditor General was removed.
For many years, before 1991, the chiefs Act generated abuse of power by provincial administration by harassment and suppression of Kenyans. In 1991, with a few weeks’ of debate in Parliament, the chiefs Act was repealed. In the same year, the security of tenure of the four important offices in Kenya, was reinstated through parliamentary legislation. In the year 2002, it took Parliament less than one week to reinstate the Kenya Civil Servants Union.
The Kenyan community living abroad, started pleading with their Government for dual Citizenship many years ago. In 2001, at a meeting organized by the KCA [Kenya Community Abroad] in New Jersey, USA, dual Citizenship was discussed at length. There have been many forums in Kenyan Diaspora, where dual Citizenship has been discussed. The issue has been embedded in the harmonized draft constitution.
In the Standard newspaper of the 23rd. November 2009, the committee of experts was quoted saying that the adoption of the already released draft constitution, will take 3 years to implement. This means that the issue of dual citizenship will also last more than three years to be realized. Kenyans living abroad sends to Kenya an average of Ksh 60 billion every year. This amount is likely to increase if dual citizenship is adopted in Kenya. Just like Section 2A, the Union of the Kenya Civil Servants, the Chiefs Act, the office of the Judges, the Attorney General, the Public Service Commission, the Controller and Auditor General, which were discussed and resolved within short periods of time, the dual citizenship bill should also be discussed and resolved outside the framework of new constitution making.
Many African Nations have dual citizenship. It is not a new thing in Africa. Why do the Kenya legislatures shy from passing the bill to legalize dual citizenship? Why should dual citizenship be en grained into the proposed constitution?
On behalf of all Kenyans living abroad, I sincerely plead with the Kenya Members of Parliament to prioritize the dual citizenship
Isaac Newton Kinity
Former Secretary General
Kenya Civil Servants Union and Chairman
Kikimo Foundation for Corruption and Poverty Eradication.
