A non-governmental organization is now seeking orders to revoke the acquisition of identification documents acquired by businessman Osman Ahmed Kahia who is believed to be a Somali national.
Kahia came to the limelight after he was allocated 90-acre parcel of land comprising of the protected Mangrove forest in Mombasa.
The petitioner, Commission for Human Rights and Justice (CHRJ) through it's Executive Director Julius Ogogoh, has now moved to the Mombasa High Court seeking orders to have Kahia’s identity card (ID card) and his passport revoked on grounds that the process of acquiring his Kenya’s citizenship was through fraud, false representation and concealment of material facts.
"From the records, we have established that the 1st interested party had given false information to a person employed in the public service contrary to section 129 of the penal code,since the documents he produced to acquire his new generation passport were different from the ones he used to acquire his previous old generation passport," Ogogoh stated.
In his sworn affidavit before court, the petitioner has tabled evidence indicating that Kahia was born in 1984 and that his mother was known as Hakuna Ibrahim.
However while applying for his recent passport, he produced different documents showing that he was born in 1974 and his mother at the time was one Khadija Issa Hassan.
"Kahia’s records indicate that Khadija Issa Hassan cannot possibly be the mother to the respondent due to the fact that she was the same age as Kahia’s in 2006 during her time of death. Her death certificate was among documents tabled in court as part of the evidence that indicates that both his identity card and passport were illegally acquired," part of the documents read.
Ogogoh further wants the court to find that failure by various government agencies (who are listed as the respondents) to investigate the alleged illegal acquisition of the Kenyan citizenship by Kahia is unconstitutional and amounts to dereliction of duty.
According to court documents, CHRJ has demonstrated that a principal immigration officcer stated that in or about July 2021 he received information that Kahia is suspected to be a foreign national living in Kenya using illegally acquired registration documents and that upon conducting investigations it was established that he had obtained his passport by giving false information in relation to his date of birth and details of his parents.
"That the court having issued orders under petition number E413 of 2021 that ordered the respondents to investigate Kahia for inter alia - obtaining documents through fraud ,false pretenses and making a false deceleration for a passport by giving false information to a person employed in the public service,the respondents failed to take appropriate action in investigating his citizenship," Ogogoh states.
Ogogoh has sued the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and coordination of National Government, Principal Registrar of Persons, the Director of Immigration ,the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission and the Attorney General.
In the suit, Kahia is listed as the first interested party, his two companies; Kahia Transporters Ltd and Trade Lead Ltd as the second and third interested parties respectively.
In another application filed at the Mombasa Environment and Land court, Ogogoh alongside 3 other lobby groups claims that Kahia illegally acquired some piece of land which had been gazetted as part of the Mangrove Forest.
"The land in question was being used by fishermen in the area as a landing site. However, it was illegally acquired by Kahia and later on transferred to Kahia Transporters, the decision to allocate the land to a private entity affects the locals," Ogogah states.
Ogogoh further claims that the land was not available for alienation and acquisition for private use without following the constitutional safeguards on riparian land and prohibition.
"Without the involvement of stakeholders or public participation, the acquisition, sale and transfer of the land to an individual was carried without the knowledge of National Land commission,"he stated.
Ogogoh further claims that the outcry from the locals on the grabbing of the public land pushed the lobby group to file the two suits before the high court.
Justice Stephen Githinji certified the matter as urgent.
He further issued conservatory orders restraining the second respondent ( Kahia), his employees, agents, servants or any other person from interfering with the operation of the fisherman and locals.
The matter will be mentioned on February 21, 2024.
