Onyango Oloo's Own Passport Saga:
Someone is imperiously and impetously, not to say haughtily and contempously
suggesting to Okoth Osewe
that he should travel to
Well, folks, I did take that route many years ago.
Despite arriving in Canada as landed immigrants in the late eighties, some of
us still saw it as our right to obtain Kenyan passports because we did not
believe and still do not believe that our birthright can be snatched away from
us by bureaucrats, securocrats or assorted political
fat cats.
My own journey took almost two years to complete in the early nineties. I
followed the rules to the letter.
Living in
They sent me forms to fill and asked me to pay the requisite fee. I did as I
was told. Months morphed into almost a year. I was told that they were waiting
for word from
When I demanded to know how far the process had reached- I had filled out all
the forms, gotten eveything signed, submitted all the
right size photos, etc I was shocked to learn that my file had been misplaced
in
So I asked what should I do, since my trip was not not
just imminent but also an emergency?
I was told that I would be issued with a temporary travel document from the
embassy that would enable me to board that plane.
But there was a twist. It would be a one time, ONE WAY travel document( forget the fact that I lived and worked in
The Canadian government for their part told me that I was traveling to
What to do?
I decided to to travel on that one way document.
And yes, I did surrender it at the airport.
I went homesquared, did my thing and was back in
That turned out to be a BIG FAT LIE.
Nyayo House flat out told me THAT THERE WAS NO RECORD
OF ONYANGO OLOO EVER APPLYING FOR A KENYAN PASSPORT ANYWHERE- even after I
showed them THE ORIGINAL RECEIPTS FROM THE KENYA HIGH COMMISSION IN OTTAWA
proving that I had paid the requsite fees.
I was now fighting against the clock. I was expected back in
The Immigration Department told me that I would have to START FROM SCRATCH the
whole process.
Very frustrated, I complied.
Got the forms, went to my late cousin Veronica Nyamodi,
a former state counsel and then lawyer in private practice who endorsed my
forms. Dr. Willy Mutunga was the other one. Took the forms back- again a lot of running around and stone
walling.
It is then that I put on my political activist hat.
Months previously, I had button holed the late George Anyona
and the late George Kapten when they toured Canada
about the issue of Kenyans abroad and their lack of Kenyan travel documents. Anyona delivered on his promise to raise the issue in
parliament. Back in Nairobi I sought them out. Anyona
promised a follow up to Wako. I sought out George Kapten
at his private law practice. He also promised to intervene. I had lunch with Imenti MP Kiraitu Murungi at his South C home and he also said he would make
a few phone calls. Dr. Willy Mutunga lobbied the then
Principal Immigration Officer, Francis Kwinga. Heck,
I found out that one of my former
Finally, FIVE HOURS BEFORE I WAS SCHEDULED TO FLY OUT OF KENYA, Francis Kwinga summoned me to his Nyayo
House office, admonished me for taking the panya
route out of
As I was leaving his office, he hinted darkly:
" There is
nothing that prevents me from calling the airport when you are in the lift and
asking them to confiscate your passport when you show up for departure."
:
Obviously that did not happen.
So, all of you jokers who are giving people SERMONS about DUE PROCESS and the
PROPER CHANNELS and what not, give it a rest, OK?
Please save ithat TWADDLE for ANY GIRAFFES who may be
interested in zonked out patronizing advice.
Onyango Oloo
Published by Kenya
Socialist Democratic Alliance (KSDA)
email: harakatips@hotmail.com