Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Friday defended his decision to declare lawyer Miguna Miguna a prohibited immigrant.
The CS, while responding to a suit filed by Miguna, who was deported to Canada, said his decision was within the law.
Matiang’i said the self-declared NRM General cannot be allowed to benefit from his blatant defiance of express provisions of the Constitution.
He argues that the opposition politician obtained his Kenyan passport illegally through political patronage.
Thus, the CS wants Justice Chacha Mwita, who is handling a case Miguna filed through lawyer Nelson Havi, to dismiss it saying the orders sought cannot stand in law.
"Joshua Miguna lost his citizenship by operation of law upon acquiring of his Canadian citizenship," the CS says in an affidavit.
On Thursday, Justice Luka Kimaru declared Muguna’s deportation to Canada as "null and void and of no legal effect".
The judge said Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and Director of Criminal Investigation George Kinoti and immigration boss Gordon Kihalangwa worked in cahoots to defeat justice.
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Matiang’i said courts have previously held that a person who lost his citizenship by operation of law upon acquiring foreign nationality can only regain it through prescribed legal procedure.
"I was informed by the Director of Immigration that the court have held before that Kenyans who became foreign citizens and came back after the 2010 Constitution and obtained Kenyan identification documents, cannot claim citizenship using the court process."
"That would amount to abuse of the legal process," the CS said in his affidavit.
He said he was aware that Section 97 of the old Constitution provided that a citizen of Kenya who was also a citizen of some other country ceased to be a citizen unless he renounced his citizenship of the other country and taken an oath of allegiance.
The CS also denied disobeying court orders, arguing that he had never been served the same by anyone.
"I was neither a party to the proceedings nor was I issued with any order personally or by substituted service to date directing me to do or refrain from doing anything," Matiangi adds.
Miguna is fighting the decision by the government cancelling his passport and citizenship, arguing that he is a Kenyan as he has never renounced his citizenship.
He was arrested on February 2 and deported five days later following the CS’s decision. Justice Kimaru had ordered that he be produced court.
Justice Chacha will rule on February 23.
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