A prejudiced citizenship

Date
2021
Authors
Anisa, Abdulrashid
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Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Before the enactment of section 8(1)(A) of the Registrations of Persons Act in 2014, vetting of specified communities was a common practice done. This practice now given power under statute was supposed to be agreeing for a country which had suffered many terrorist attacks during that decade. However, this practice though was proving fruitful had so many challenges. The challenges are that the Registration of Persons Act does not specify what proof of citizenship documentation is to be produced and the practice varies quite widely. Even when applying for an identity card with a birth certificate identifying a parent and the identity card of that parent, people living in areas where vetting is applicable must produce additional documentation. Section 8 empowers registration officials to require an individual to provide any information provided with "documentary or other evidence of the truth." Vetting committees are established to verify citizenship before issuing an ID card in border regions (including the coast of the Indian Ocean) or in neighborhoods known to host foreign origins, such as Kibera in Nairobi (serving the Nubian community) or communities on both sides of one of the borders of Kenya. The paper aims to show that section 8(1)(A) of the Registration of Persons Act is discriminatory. This statement is made without being blind to the argument of national security as a major concern of the country and instead tries to give solutions that will still have the same objective without necessarily engaging in discrimination.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Bachelor of Laws Degree, Strathmore University Law School
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