Court orders return of EALA MP passport in row over dual citizenship

The High Court in Nairobi has ordered the government to return a passport confiscated from an East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament, Abdirahman Bashir Shariff.

In his orders, Justice David Mburu directed that the crucial document should be released to the lawmaker within 24 hours without being damaged or perforated.

“Pending the inter parties hearing and determination of this Application, an ORDER be and is hereby issued directing the Respondents, jointly and severally, to forthwith and in any event within twenty-four (24) hours of service of the order herein, release and return to the petitioner or to his Advocates on record his Kenyan Passport No. CK1 14667 issued on January 16, 2023 and expiring on January 15, 2033, intact and unaltered,” ruled Justice Mburu.

Bashir sued the Interior Cabinet Secretary, the Director General, Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service, and the Director of Immigration Services, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Attorney General.

He narrated that on August 14, 2026, he was denied entry into Kenya and was on I-Fly Air flight IFY710 departing Nairobi for Mogadishu at 2.30 pm.

His lawyer, Cecil Miller told the court that this was an alleged illegal deportation.

Miller stated that his client represents Somalia in EALA, but he is a Kenyan by birth.

The lawyer further said that his client was born in Waberi, Garissa and has a Kenyan national identification card, alongside the passport

According to him, Bashir’s parents and siblings are also Kenyans, and they also hold the same documents.

“The petitioner has, for the whole of his adult life and over very many years, travelled freely into and out of Kenya in the exercise of his rights as a Kenyan citizen, passing through Kenyan ports of entry on numerous occasions without the slightest hindrance, question or objection,” argued Miller, adding that he also has dual citizenship from Somalia.

“Petitioner is also a citizen of the Federal Republic of Somalia and is, by operation of Article 16 of the Constitution, a dual citizen who has never renounced and cannot involuntarily lose his Kenyan citizenship by birth. The petitioner is an elected Member of the East African Legislative Assembly representing the Federal Republic of Somalia and is required to travel within the East African Community and internationally in the discharge of his regional legislative and official duties,” the lawyer added.

Miller claimed that his client was not given a hearing or questioned before he was kicked out. He insisted that it was impossible to have a Kenyan by birth thrown out of the country, as the law only gives the government power over prohibited immigrants.

He said that Bashir’s travel to the United States of America to visit his family had been frustrated because the passport at the heart of the case had the visa.

The lawyer also told the court that the MP’s stay in Somalia was in limbo as he was allegedly holed up in a hotel.

“The petitioner is thereby separated from every member of his family on both countries and is meanwhile incurring hotel costs out of his own pocket, which accrue daily and will continue to do so for as long as he is kept out of Kenya and deprived of his passport. That separation and that mounting expense are ongoing harms which each day of delay aggravates,” claimed Miller.

The Judge directed that Bashir should serve his case to the parties he had listed and appear before him on October 14, 2026.