Presidential Proclamation in the Matter of the Petition by the Pemba Community for Formal Recognition as an Ethnic Community of Kenya
Published: 30/Jan/2023
WHEREAS the National Assembly considered public petition No. 41 of 2020 dated the 19th November, 2020, regarding the recognition of the Pemba people of Kenya as citizens of the Republic of Kenya;
WHEREAS the petition posits that the Pemba Community are part of the sixteen Swahili dialects of the traditional Swahili of Kenya;
WHEREAS the Pemba community settled within the ten-mile coastal strip which was later incorporated into the protectorate of Kenya, and later into the territory of the Republic of Kenya;
WHEREAS the failure to recognize the Pemba Community as citizens of Kenya continues to cause disenfranchisement and exclusion of the community from national development; and
WHEREAS the National Assembly recommended vide its Report of the year 2021 that:
“the Pemba people from the Coast of Kenya be recognized as an ethnic group in Kenya and be issued with the relevant identification documents in accordance with the Constitution and the law”
NOW THEREFORE, and having considered the said Report together with its annexures, I note as follows—
(a) The Constitution of Kenya affirms our national pride in our Ethnic, Cultural, and Religious diversity as being the bedrock of our unity as a sovereign Nation; and
(b) Articles 11 and 44 of the Constitution of Kenya enshrine the duty of the Government to promote and protect the diverse cultural heritage of Kenya.
REASONS Wherefore, I, William Samoei Ruto, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, having considered the said petition and the consequent Parliamentary Report in light of the Constitution of Kenya, our National Values, and the Principles of Governance; by the authority vested in me by the Constitution do recognize, proclaim, and order:
1. THAT Kenyans of Pemba heritage constitute a community that is one of the ethnic communities of Kenya; and
2. THAT all persons, Bodies, and Authorities within the Republic of Kenya shall recognize the Pemba Community as an ethnic community of Kenya.
Dated the 30th January, 2023.
WILLIAM SAMOEI RUTO,
President.
Download gazette: Kenya Gazette Vol. 23 31-1-23 Special Issue (Pemba)