In 1945, those Rwandans were granted Kenyan citizenship and subsequently given Kenyan national identity cards, and later in 1975, these national identity cards were replaced by three-month renewable alien identification cards. During the interactive session, majority of the questions asked by community members revolved around the issue of statelessness, which has denied them the fundamental rights enjoyed by the rest of Kenyans. Some members of the community had to live under falsified identities for them to be able to get employment or send their children to school. Gabriel Ndagijimana who was born in Kericho in 1940 before Kenya gained its independence said that like many others he is neither a Kenyan nor Rwandan citizen. “I will engage the relevant Government institutions in order to resolve this matter as soon as possible.” Amb.

Source: Standard Digital February 15, 2017 15:17 UTC