This archive report was first published on 14 November 2019.
On November 14, 2019, the High Court of Kenya made a significant ruling in favor of Mwende Mwinzi, the country's ambassador nominee to South Korea, who was facing pressure from Parliament to renounce her American citizenship.
Mwende Mwinzi, a dual citizen of Kenya and the United States, had been nominated as Kenya's envoy to South Korea but was conditionally approved by the National Assembly, which demanded that she renounce her American citizenship.
However, Mwinzi argued that her American citizenship was acquired by birth and that she could not renounce it since it was out of her control. In an affidavit, she stated, 'My US citizenship was acquired by birth and as such, my citizenship or the process of opting in was a consequence of circumstances out of my control. I did not participate in the decision to be born in the US and I cannot “opt out” of that decision.'
Justice Makau, in his ruling, noted that an ambassador is not a State officer but a public officer, and therefore, Mwinzi was not required to renounce her citizenship. He also pointed out that Article 78 of the Constitution stipulates that a person is not eligible for election or appointment to a State office unless the person is a citizen of Kenya, but Clause 2(b) of the same Article provides an exception for individuals who have been made citizens of another country by operation of that country's law or without ability to opt out.
However, the court also ruled that Mwinzi's petition was premature since the vetting and approval process had not been completed. The judge noted that she should have waited for the process to complete before moving to the court.
