A Kenyan court has ordered the government to return a passport seized from a sitting member of the East African Legislative Assembly, in a case that has put a spotlight on how authorities handle dual citizenship among elected officials in the region.
Justice David Mburu directed government officials to hand back the Kenyan passport, numbered CK1 14667 and issued in January 2023, to Abdirahman Bashir Shariff, an EALA member reportedly representing Somalia, within 24 hours. The order followed a petition filed by Bashir’s legal team after he was allegedly denied entry into Kenya and removed from an I-Fly Air flight bound for Mogadishu on August 14, an incident his lawyers described as an unlawful deportation.
According to court filings, Bashir was born in Waberi, Garissa County, making him a Kenyan citizen by birth who also holds Somali citizenship. His lawyer argued that he had never formally renounced his Kenyan citizenship and could not be involuntarily stripped of it, a position the court appears to have taken seriously in granting the interim order. Kenyan law permits dual citizenship, though questions have periodically arisen over how that status is treated for individuals holding public office in regional bodies such as the EALA.
Bashir’s legal team told the court that he had been left stranded in a hotel in Somalia since the incident, separated from family members on both sides of the border and facing mounting expenses. His lawyers added that a United States travel visa was trapped inside the confiscated passport, compounding the disruption to his movement.
The matter is set to return before Justice Mburu on October 14, when the court is expected to hear further arguments on the substance of the dispute. It remains unclear what specific grounds immigration officials cited at the time Bashir was stopped, and authorities have not publicly detailed their side of the account.
The case adds to a string of disputes in recent years over the citizenship status of East African legislators and officials who hold passports from more than one country in the region, an issue that has occasionally strained ties between member states of the East African Community.