Win for Miguna Miguna as passport is surrendered to court

Opposition politician Miguna Miguna: His passport has been surrendered to court. [Courtesy]

The Director of Immigration Gordon Kihalangwa has complied with a judge's orders and surrendered passport of Opposition politician Miguna to court.

On February 15, the court ordered Kihalangwa to surrender Miguna’s revoked passport within seven days.

The perforated passport was delivered through lawyer Fred Ngatia and has now been attached to Miguna’s court file.

“In compliance with orders issued on February 15, we attach the perforated passport of the applicant. The compliance, however, is without prejudice to our client’s rights to challenge the legal validity of the orders issued by the court," said Ngatia.

Miguna has maintained that court orders also implies that the Immigration department deposits a functioning, valid, passport in the same manner they took it from him. Now holes have been punched in it.

“What the government has done is to deposit a defaced passport in defiance of the court order. The court did not order the respondents to destroy or deface my passport before depositing with the court,” he said.

Justice Luka Kimaru had struck out Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i's declaration that the fiery lawyer was a prohibited immigrant.

He said that at the time Miguna Miguna was deported, IG Joseph Boinnet and DCI George Kinoti were in contempt of court orders.

In his ruling, Judge Kimaru said the removal of Miguna Miguna from Kenya on February 6 was illegal and had no merit in law.

But on the day the High Court decision was issued, the Government filed a notice of appeal on the grounds that the High Court had no jurisdiction to declare null and void Miguna's deportation.

Miguna was arrested on February 2  for participating in NASA leader Raila Odinga's January 30 'swearing-in' and being a member of NRM, which was declared an illegal group.

Police refused to produce him in High Court, Nairobi, against Justice Kimaru's orders. He would be arraigned in Kajiado where the resident magistrate refused to hear the state's case against him and directed he first appear in high Court Nairobi and then take his plea in Kajiado at a later date.

Miguna Miguna also refused to take a plea in Kajiado insisting that he was supposed to appear in High Court, Nairobi.