So what is this regaining and what does it entail?

Article 14(5) says that any Kenyan citizen by birth is entitled upon application to regain citizenship by birth. The Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011 section 10 and the regulations of 2012 sections 5-8 prescribes the manner in which such an application shall be made. The key word here is entitled. This therefore means that the Cabinet Secretary has no option but to grant the request and issue a regaining certificate to such an applicant.

That being the case, should one assume that after COK 2010 they automatically regained their citizenship without even applying in the prescribed manner? The answer to this was given by Lenaola J ( As he then was) in the case of Bashir Mohamed Jama Abdi vs the minister for Immigration and Registration of Persons and others ( Petition no.586 of 2012).

Lenaola J in paragraph 42 says “…It is obvious to me that whereas Abdi is entitled to apply to regain his citizenship, this Court cannot be the organ to grant it to him because it is not a matter of right. He should make the necessary application and if it is formally denied, then he can have recourse to the Court after that fact…”

In Paragraph 47 Lenaola J Says, “…there is no obligation on the part of the Kenyan Government “to accept” an application to regain citizenship because one must meet the lawful conditions set for so doing…”

It therefore my humble view that while those that had lost their citizenship under the repealed constitution section 97 are now entitled to regain the same under COK 2010, they are obligated to apply for the same in the prescribed manner. The government is duty bound to facilitate this process without unnecessary delays or bureaucracies.

The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do.

The constitution on the issue of citizenship only has 1 line. It is very clear.

You cannot lose your citizenship for whatever reason. It is one of the shortest lines in the constitution and it has no ifs and buts about it.

People quoting laws that were made by the mkoloni gov't would do well to read that part.

As to the issue of Miguna renouncing his citizenship this is one area where only Jubilee people who have never found a way out of Nairobi can believe.

You are not expected to renounce your citizenship in Canada. In fact it has one of the most liberal laws worldwide dual citizenship.

Second and most important. Even the US does not and will never tell any country that anyone has renounced their citizenship.

When someone can wake in the morning and say, you are not a citizen, we are heading for very dangerous times ahead.