By Kibaki Muthamia<\/p>\n
For years, being Kenyan was something members of the Pemba community could feel but could not always prove on paper. Three years after citizenship was formally granted, that piece of paper is changing what people can do with their lives.<\/p>\n
In Mayungu, Kilifi County, Juma Masoud can point to several things that became possible after he obtained his Kenyan identity documents.<\/p>\n
He can run his fish business more openly, obtain the licences required to operate, buy land and register property and vehicles in his own name.<\/p>\n
Before that, he says, the absence of documentation made ordinary transactions difficult.<\/p>\n
His experience captures the practical meaning of citizenship better than any official definition.<\/p>\n