This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
On September 19, 2019, Mwende Mwinzi petitioned the court to block the Kenyan Government's decision to require her to renounce her American citizenship in order to take up her position as Ambassador to South Korea.
According to Mwinzi, the recommendation by a departmental committee that she renounce her U.S. citizenship is 'illegal, null and void.'
She claims that her counterparts have already taken up their positions, but she is yet to be posted, which she says is 'in violation of her fundamental rights.'
Mwinzi was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta for the South Korean post in May 2019, and MPs approved her nomination on June 6, 2019, with a caveat that she renounce her American citizenship.
However, Mwinzi is adamant that the ambassadorial position is not a State Office, as defined by Article 260 of the Kenyan Constitution.
“Unless this matter is urgently heard, she risks losing her posting as Ambassador to Korea in violation of her fundamental constitutional rights and freedoms,” reads the petition.
