Man loses Kenyan citizenship over allure of traveling to USA

Justice John Mativo at the high court

It seemed like the perfect plan for a young man who wanted to travel to the United States of America.

Jamah Ahmed, 22, according to his account in a Nairobi court, was advised by friends to pose as a refugee to boost his chances of getting a visa to travel to the land of opportunity.

That was in 2005.

The plan, however, came a cropper eight years later when Ahmed needed to get a national identity card.

That is when his problems began.

It took longer than usual for Ahmed to get a response from the immigration office.

This prompted Ahmed's father to follow up the matter, only to be told that his son could not get an identity card because he was registered as a refugee.

Ahmed wrote to the Principal Registrar of Persons seeking to have his name cleared, but he did not get any reply.

Instead, the Attorney General's office told Ahmed to wait for a task force that had been appointed to address his case to complete its work.

Attorney General Githu Muigai told the court that there was a surge of similar cases in the country.

Ahmed said his friend persuaded him to fill forms indicating that he hails from Kismayu, Somalia, in order to seek sympathy from the American Government.

The refugee status, according to Ahmed, was allegedly a guarantee that he would get easy entry to the US.

But the promise never materialised and instead he ended up before the High Court in Nairobi, pleading to be given a Kenyan ID.

The card is the only proof that one is Kenyan.

The court, however, washed its hands off the matter. Ths means that Ahmed will remain condemned and labelled a refugee in his motherland until the refugee department at the Immigration office clears him.

Ahmed was born on July 10, 1995 in Kenya. However, the court record does not indicate which county he is from.

High Court judge John Mativo agreed with the State, noting that Ahmed had only himself to blame for his the predicament.

"I have carefully evaluated the material before the court and I am not persuaded that the applicant has demonstrated sound grounds for the court to exercise its discretion in his favour and grant the reliefs sought," the judge ruled.

"The court cannot stop a lawful process. It can only intervene if is shown to be an abuse of the process, illegal, or baseless or if it is prompted by ulterior motives other than furtherance of the mandate of the first respondent ( registrar of persons) and public interest," added Justice Mativo.