This archive report was first published on 6 October 2019.
On October 6, 2019, Raila Odinga weighed in on the controversy surrounding Mwende Mwinzi's dual citizenship status, saying that MPs were being petty and partisan in their demands.
According to Odinga, there was no legal irregularity that would prevent Mwinzi from taking up her position as the Kenyan envoy to South Korea. He described the MPs' stance as a refusal to rise above partisan interests and act in the interests of the nation.
Ms. Mwinzi, who was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta to be the Kenyan envoy stationed at South Korea, was pressured by MPs to renounce her US citizenship before taking up the job. The MPs argued that the Kenyan Constitution does not allow one with dual citizenship to hold an ambassadorial position.
However, Ms. Mwinzi refused to bow down to the pressure, saying her dual citizenship is acquired by birth in both cases. She filed a lawsuit challenging the MPs' directive, a case that will determine whether Kenyans living in the diaspora are eligible to hold state jobs.
