Exiled Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna will be ending another year in a foreign country as the government continues to delay his return.
Miguna’s controversies started in 2018 after the mock swearing-in of ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga as the People’s President following the 2017 presidential election that was won by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Jubilee Party but disputed by ODM.
After administering an oath of office to Raila, Miguna was arrested and charged with consenting to the administration of an oath to commit treason. The court released him, but the government arrested him again and seized his passport before deporting him to Canada.
Since then, the lawyer has never stepped into any country within the African continent following a Red Alert order issued by the government to all the airlines, barring them from facilitating Miguna’s travel to Africa.
Despite several attempts seeking the court’s attention, the government has not yielded to Miguna’s plea.
This year, his case took another twist as the government failed to honour the court’s order directing that Miguna be issued with travel documents to return home.
In November, the lawyer filed a case at the High Court seeking orders to lift the red alerts issued by the Kenyan government preventing him from traveling to the country.
Under a certificate of urgency, Miguna through his lawyer John Khaminwa said the alerts have prevented Lufthansa and Air France airlines from allowing him to board its planes for purposes of traveling to and entering Kenya on November 16 or any other day.
Miguna had booked an air ticket to travel from Canada via Germany and France to land in Kenya on November 16.
On November 22, the High Court directed Miguna to obtain an emergency travel document from the Kenyan High Commission in Ottawa Canada, or Berlin Germany within 72 hours.
Justice Hedwig Ong'undi said Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo must ensure the said order is complied with.
Once in possession of the emergency travel document, Air France were to allow him to board an available flight to Kenya with immediate effect.
"Upon landing, he be allowed to use his ID for purposes of identification," said the judge.
The judge added that once in Kenya, Miguna was to immediately apply for a Kenyan passport, and the same be issued to him within seven days as long as all requirements are complied with.
However, shortly after the court’s ruling, the lawyer argued that he will not visit the Kenyan embassy for the travel documents, adding that he never lost his Kenyan citizenship obtained by birth, a decision which he later changed and moved to the embassy.
Upon reaching at the embassy, the lawyer alleged that the staff asked him to show them the court’s order.
Miguna went to theKenyan Embassy in Berlin for the second day to present a court order demanding he be issued with an emergency travel document.
He returned there with a physical copy of the court order and copies of his lawyer's emails to the embassy and CS for Foreign Affairs.
“Ms. Mungai, Ms. Malinda, and Mr. Karuma refused to comply with the Order,” Miguna said.
He however vowed to continue with the struggle until the court order is respected.
"Here is my promise and commitment...It doesn't matter what they do to me. It doesn't matter how brutal or repressive they become against me," he said.
"It doesn't matter how many court orders they disobey. It doesn't matter how long they force me into exile. But I will never, ever surrender."
Miguna claimed that Kenya has been held hostage by people who don't care about court orders.
"I've proven that the violation of my rights and disobedience of court orders is about impunity," he said.
"This has never been about citizenship, travel documents. The struggle continues."
In October, the layer had notified Kenyans through his Twitter account that he was ready to travel back to home.
Following his announcement, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga said he was ready to personally travel to Toronto to accompany the firebrand lawyer and self-declared national resistance movement (NRM).
LSK President Nelson Havi had also said that he was to accompany Mutunga to Canada.
