NAIROBI, Kenya — The High Court in Nairobi has ordered the immediate release and return of a Kenyan passport belonging to East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Abdirahman Bashir Shariff, who says he was denied entry into Kenya and sent back to Somalia after arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Justice David Mburu directed the respondents, jointly and severally, 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 directive was issued in Petition No. HCCHRPET/E630/2026, pending a full inter partes hearing of Shariff’s application.
According to his petition, filed through lawyer Ceceil Miller, Shariff arrived at JKIA from Mogadishu on 14 August 2026 and was subjected to extensive questioning by immigration officers over his Somali citizenship. He alleges he was then removed from the immigration hall and detained.
Shariff says officials first told him he was not Kenyan and had obtained his Kenyan passport wrongfully, an explanation he says was later replaced by a claim that he had failed to declare his dual citizenship.
He maintains that a declaration of dual citizenship was already recorded in the immigration system, but that officials nonetheless insisted a hard copy was required. His passport was subsequently seized, he says, and he was denied entry and placed on a flight back to Mogadishu.
“The said officers refused the Petitioner leave to pass the immigration barrier and denied him entry into the Republic of Kenya,” the petition states.
Shariff further alleges he was given no written decision or reasons for his detention, the refusal of entry, his removal, or the seizure of his passport. “The Petitioner was afforded no prior notice, no hearing, no opportunity to respond to the allegation made against him,” the petition says.
Shariff’s petition states that he was born in Waberi, Garissa District, on 1 February 1986, to Kenyan parents, and that Kenyan authorities have recognised his citizenship for more than two decades.
Court papers indicate he obtained a Kenyan national identity card in September 2005 and was issued the Kenyan passport at the centre of the dispute in January 2023, valid until January 2033.
“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.
The case turns on the rights of Kenyan citizens who also hold citizenship of another country. Shariff relies on Article 16 of the Constitution, which provides that a citizen by birth does not lose Kenyan citizenship upon acquiring citizenship of another state, and on Article 39(3), which guarantees every citizen the right to enter, remain in and reside anywhere in Kenya.
His petition characterises his alleged removal as constructive deportation and asks the court to declare the state’s actions unconstitutional. He is also seeking damages, citing financial losses, separation from his family and other prejudice arising from the incident.
Also Read: Somalia Deputy PM denied entry into Kenya over alleged fraudulent passport
Among the specific harms cited, Shariff’s petition notes that his Kenyan passport contains a valid United States visa he says he needs to visit family in the US, adding that “the value of the said visa continues to waste with each passing day.”
The High Court has not made any determination on the substantive allegations or constitutional questions raised in the petition; Tuesday’s order addresses only the interim return of Shariff’s passport pending a full hearing.
Justice Mburu has directed the respondents to file their responses to the application and petition within seven days, after which Shariff may file a rejoinder and written submissions, followed by submissions from the respondents.
The matter is set to return to court on 14 October 2026 to confirm compliance with the order and for further directions.
