A Somali national, Mahamud Mohamed, has been fined Sh370,000 and ordered deported after pleading guilty to unlawfully staying in Kenya and fraudulently obtaining Kenyan identity and passport documents. The conviction followed investigations by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who took over the case from immigration officials at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
According to the DCI, investigations established that Mohamed had obtained Kenyan registration documents before securing a passport through false declarations. The suspect pleaded guilty to three charges which attracted fines of Sh150,000 for unlawfully being present in Kenya, Sh150,000 for making a false declaration to obtain a Kenyan passport and Sh70,000 for knowingly presenting an identity card containing false entries with intent to deceive.
The court ordered that Mohamed be imprisoned in default of paying the respective fines. It further directed that he be repatriated to Somalia upon payment. His fraudulently obtained Kenyan passport was also ordered surrendered to the Director-General of Immigration Services for destruction. This case is not an isolated incident, as issues surrounding the acquisition of Kenyan identity documents by foreign nationals have been a subject of concern.
In August, Somalia's Second Deputy Prime Minister, Jibril Abdirashid Haji, surrendered his Kenyan passport and other identity documents at the Kenyan Embassy in Mogadishu, weeks after he was deported from Nairobi over questions surrounding his possession of the travel document. Haji was turned away at JKIA in June after Kenyan immigration officials questioned his possession of a Kenyan passport.
Haji had arrived in Nairobi from Mogadishu aboard a Saacid Airlines flight, carrying a Somali diplomatic passport and a Kenyan visa. According to reports, immigration officials suspected that Haji had fraudulently acquired Kenyan identity documents. A police incident report indicated that he acknowledged possessing a Kenyan passport but declined to surrender it, insisting that he would produce it in court.
Haji maintained that his passport was genuine and had been lawfully obtained, describing the surrender of the documents as a voluntary administrative decision. However, the circumstances under which he acquired the documents have raised questions about the issuance of Kenyan identity papers to foreign nationals. The case drew attention to the broader question of whether other Somali government officials possess Kenyan citizenship documents and, if so, whether they obtained them through lawful procedures.
The cases highlight the distinction between immigration violations and the legal requirements for acquiring Kenyan citizenship and travel documents. Somali passport holders are subject to Kenya's applicable entry and immigration requirements. Entry clearance, however, is separate from eligibility for Kenyan citizenship, which is governed by the Constitution and the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.
Key points
- A Somali national has been fined Sh370,000 and ordered deported for unlawfully staying in Kenya and fraudulently obtaining Kenyan identity and passport documents.
- The case highlights concerns about the acquisition of Kenyan identity documents by foreign nationals and the distinction between immigration violations and the legal requirements for acquiring Kenyan citizenship and travel documents.
- Foreign nationals, including Somali citizens, may qualify for Kenyan citizenship through lawful routes, provided they meet the relevant legal requirements.
