Pemba community cries for recognition

Simba Mwano Jumbe smiles after registering for identification at Kaya Kinondo village in Kwale, 2015. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

The happiness of life is being able to be recognized as a citizen of a country. But for hundreds of members of the Pemba community that has been a nightmare, at least in Kenya.

For many years, members of the community whose population is estimated at more than 8,000 and are scattered across Lamu, Kilifi, Mombasa, and Kwale counties, life has been miserable. Their main economic activity is deep-sea fishing and they contribute immensely to the country’s income from the sea.