Kenyan court revokes deportation of opposition lawyer Miguna Miguna

Kenya

A Kenyan court has revoked the deportation of opposition lawyer Miguna Miguna, who the authorities accused of ‘swearing in’ Raida Odinga as the ‘people’s president’.

In a direct challenge to the Uhuru Kenyatta led government, Judge Luka Kimaru of the High Court reinstated Miguna’s citizenship and ordered that his passport is surrendered to court within seven days.

“CS Matiang’i declaration of Miguna Miguna as a foreigner and consequent deportation is declared null and void,” Judge Kimaru ruled.

A senior interior ministry official said the Kenyan government will appeal the court ruling.

Miguna who holds dual Kenyan and Canadian citizenship is currently in Canada after being put on a flight to Toronto by the Kenyan government earlier this month following several days of being held in police detention.

Law enforcement agencies in Kenya had explained that Miguna was held for confessing to having conducted the illegal ‘oath’ of Odinga and declaring himself a leader of the outlawed National Resistance Movement outfit.

Following his deportation, Miguna vowed to seek legal redress, maintaining that he has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship.

Miguna, who filed a suit at the High Court on Monday, seeking to quash the deportation orders and reinstate his citizenship, welcomed the ruling in a tweet saying;

‘‘We, Kenyan patriots and freedom fighters, believe in and are fully committed to the rule of law. We shall use the constitution as the spear and the shield in the fight against the despots,’‘ Miguna tweeted.

We, the #NRMKe, Kenyan patriots and freedom fighters, believe in and are fully committed to the RULE OF LAW. We shall use the CONSTITUTION as the SPEAR and the SHIELD in the fight against the despots. RailaOdinga KTNNews dailynation ntvkenya> https://t.co/Ea8KddMJYB

— Dr. Miguna Miguna (@MigunaMiguna) February 15, 2018

NASA to appoint cabinet

Meanwhile the oppositional National Super Alliance coalition’s commitment to running a parallel government is steadfast as they promised to launch a National People’s Constituent Assembly within 10 days.

The Assembly, representing a parallel cabinet, led by Odinga, will work towards the objective of mobilising for ‘new elections under a new electoral regime’ to be held before August this year.

Jubilee accuses judiciary of favouring the opposition

The ruling party on the other hand has accused the country’s judiciary of ‘poor leadership, bias, impunity and double standards’.

Kenyatta’s party says the judiciary favours the opposition, citing cases where court orders ignored by the opposition were not called out while the Chief Justice himself issued a strong statement warning the government against ignoring orders of judicial courts and officers.