Cabinet Secretary Response to the Public Petition for recognition of the Pemba Community as Citizens of Kenya
Published: 25/Feb/2022
Source: Kenya Cabinet Secretary / National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security
Official response of the Cabinet Secretary to the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security Report on Public Petition No.41 of 2020 Regarding Recognition of the Pemba People of Kenya as Citizens of Kenya.
The Cabinet Secretary states that the members of the Pemba Community are not eligible to be considered stateless under Kenyan law because :
- They have a claim to Tanzanian Citizenship;
- They have not been continuously living in the Republic of Kenya since 12th December, 1963.
He states that:
“There is no law governing registration of stateless persons as the initial mandate provided in section 15(2) and 16(2) [of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act (KCIA)] which states that applications under these sections shall be made within a period of five years from the date of the commencement of KCIA, 2011 and may by notice in the gazette be extended by the Cabinet Secretary for an additional period of three years. These provisions lapsed on 30th August, 2018 and further extension by the Cabinet Secretary was done for three (3) more years until 30th August, 2021.”
Download: Kenya – CS Reponse to Petition on recognition of Pemba as citizens-25.02-2022