By Lucianne Limo

Kenyans could soon enjoy dual citizenship if the draft constitution is enacted into law.

According to the draft, a person cannot lose Kenyan citizenship if he or she acquires the citizenship of another country.

The draft also proposes that Kenyans, who as a result of acquiring the citizenship of another country ceased to be Kenyan citizens, are entitled to regain it on application.

Several athletes have in the past forfeited their citizenship and became citizens of European, American or Gulf countries.

Some of the athletes include Stephen Cherono (now Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen, American Bernard Lagat, Dane Wilson Kipketer, Albert Chepkurui (now known as Abdullah Ahma Hassan) of Qatar, Leonard Mucheru and Abel Cheruiyot both of Bahrain.

According to the draft, Parliament shall enact legislation providing for conditions upon which citizenship may be granted to individuals who wish to be Kenyans.

Currently, Kenyans who have obtained citizenship in other countries have to seek a visitor’s visa to enter Kenya and employment authorisation to reside and work here.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Chairperson, Ms Florence Jaoko, said the law was long overdue. "Wherever we went to the Diaspora, Kenyans requested for dual citizenship. Many have lost citizenship after getting married to foreigners," Kalonzo said during the launch of the draft constitution at the Kenya International Conference Centre.

The issue of inclusion of dual citizenship in a new constitutional dispensation has never been contentious, and is unlikely to be so now.

The draft also proposes that a child born outside Kenya becomes a citizen if the parents are Kenyan.

The draft says that a foreigner married to a Kenyan for at least seven years is entitled, on application, to be registered as a citizen.

Citizenship will not be lost through marriage or the dissolution of the marriage, says the draft.

Interestingly, the document stipulates that a child found in Kenya, who is or appears to be less than eight years old, and whose nationality and parents are unknown, is presumed to be a citizen by birth.

This clause may cause hue and cry as a foreigner may dump his or her child in Kenya, who then automatically become Kenyan.