Kenya: Jisvin Chandra Narottam Hemraj Premji Pattni v Director of Immigration & another
Published: 17/Sep/2015
Source: High Court of Kenya at Nairobi
PETITION NO.251 OF 2014
23. Although principally the dispute forming the substance of the present Petition is whether the Petitioner is entitled to a Kenyan passport, a number of issues would need to be determined first. They are the following;
Is the Petitioner a citizen of Kenya?
Have any fundamental rights and freedoms been violated by the Respondents in respect of the Petitioner?
Is the Petitioner entitled to the orders that he has sought?
[…]
33. How does the above provision impact on the Petitioner? There is no doubt that as of 12th December 1963 when Kenya became a Republic, he was only 11 years old and a foreign national (whether British or Indian). He attained the age of twenty-one years on 22nd March 1973 and as at that date, he had already acquired the citizenship of Kenya (by fact of registration on 19th August 1968). It is also true that as at both dates, he had not renounced his foreign citizenship (whether Indian or British) neither had he taken an oath of allegiance. This means that flowing from the summary of facts obtaining as regards the Petitioner, he ceased to be a citizen of Kenya by dint of Section 97(3) of the Repealed Constitution on 22nd March 1973 and he only retained his foreign nationality (whether Indian or British as that date).
Read on Kenyalaw: http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/113178/