NAIROBI,Kenya Sep 29 – The High Court in Nairobi has ordered the immediate release and return of a Kenyan passport belonging to East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament Abdirahman Bashir Shariff, who claims he was denied entry into Kenya and sent back to Somalia after arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

📻 Breaking It Down

Justice Mburu directed the respondents to release and return Shariff’s Kenyan passport, number CK114667, to him or his advocates within 24 hours of being served with the order.

The order was issued in Petition No. HCCHRPET/E630/2026, pending the inter partes hearing and determination of Shariff’s application.

The court order states that the respondents must “forthwith and in any event within twenty-four (24) hours of service” release and return the passport, which was issued on January 16, 2023 and expires on January 15, 2033.

📌 What You Need to Know

Shariff, through lawyer Ceceil Miller, has petitioned the court, arguing that he is a Kenyan citizen by birth and that the State had no legal authority to prevent him from returning to the country.

“This matter concerns a proposition which ought never to have required the intervention of a court: that the Republic of Kenya may not shut its own citizen out of his own country,” the petition states.

According to Shariff, he arrived at JKIA from Mogadishu on August 14, 2026, but was subjected to extensive questioning by immigration officials over his Somali citizenship.

He alleges that immigration officers removed him from the immigration hall and detained him after questioning his nationality.

Shariff claims the officials initially told him that he was not Kenyan and had obtained his Kenyan passport unlawfully.

He says the explanation later changed, with officials allegedly accusing him of failing to declare his dual citizenship.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya