Somalia's Deputy PM surrenders Kenyan citizenship documents

Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji on Monday surrendered his Kenyan citizenship documents, becoming the first member of the federal cabinet to comply with a presidential directive requiring ministers holding Kenyan passports to renounce them or leave government. Jibril handed over his Kenyan passport, birth certificate and national identification card to Kenya’s Deputy Ambassador to Somalia, Elias Bare Shill, during a ceremony in Mogadishu. The move comes days after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud directed cabinet members holding Kenyan travel documents to relinquish them as a condition for remaining in office. The directive follows months of heightened scrutiny by Kenyan immigration authorities, during which several Somali government officials were denied entry or deported over alleged irregularities involving Kenyan travel documents. Jibril was recently deported from Kenya over allegations that he possessed a fraudulently acquired Kenyan passport. Immigration Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has consistently maintained that Kenyan passports are not issued to non-citizens.