Miguna freedom in limbo as Matiang'i appeals deportation ruling

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i speaks on the TV stations shutdown at Harambee House in Nairobi, flanked by PS Karanja Kibicho and ICT minister Joe Mucheru, January 31, 2018. /JACK OWUOR
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i speaks on the TV stations shutdown at Harambee House in Nairobi, flanked by PS Karanja Kibicho and ICT minister Joe Mucheru, January 31, 2018. /JACK OWUOR

The government is set to appeal the High Court's declaration that lawyer Muguna Miguna's deportation was illegal.

In a statement on Thursday, Interior PS Karanja Kibicho said the ruling by judge Luka Kimaru is not in the best interest of the country.

"As much as the government respects the court's decision, it still holds its earlier stated view that the deportation of Miguna was procedural and in accordance to the law."

Kibicho said Kimaru's other direction - for Miguna to be given his "illegally acquired Kenyan passport" also isn't in best interests.

"The government's legal team is reviewing the High Court order and will shortly be appealing the court decision," he noted.

Judge Kimaru ruled earlier on Thursday that the declaration by Interior minister Fred Matiang'i was null and void.

He directed Immigration director Gordon Kihalagwa to surrender the lawyer's passports to court within seven days.

The government forced the National Resistance Movement 'general' to Canada after he participated in Nasa leader Raila Odinga's swearing-in at Nairobi's Uhuru Park on January 30.

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Kibicho's remarks will certainly raise more concerns about the government's respect for the Judiciary. Local and international parties were alarmed by the TV stations shutdown ahead of Raila's defiant swearing-in.

The ceremony resulted in the arrest of people including Miguna. Courts wanted the lawyer to appear and be released from police custody but the orders were defied.

On Thursday, Jubilee Party gave the clearest indication yet that it could be keen on fixing the Judiciary, after it wrote a lengthy letter to Chief Justice David Maraga, accusing the courts of bias.

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