Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-19T22:12:58.935Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Irony of Citizenship: Descent, National Belonging, and Constitutions in the Postcolonial African State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Bettina Ng'weno  and
L. Obura Aloo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 2010, like many African countries since the 1990s, Kenya passed a new constitution. This constitution aimed to get rid of many past issues including the definition of citizenship. Globally, two general principles govern the acquisition of citizenship, descent from a citizen (jus sanguinis), and the fact of birth within a state territory (jus soli). In contrast to the prior Constitution that required both descent from Kenyan parents and birth in Kenya, the 2010 Constitution adopted a rule of citizenship by descent alone (jus sanguinis) from either parent. However, today Kenya is faced with a conundrum first articulated by Aristotle: how do you understand and operationalize citizenship by descent in a new state, or in the case of Kenya, one that has only just turned fifty? The crux of this conundrum is determining the basis of the citizenship of parents who precede the polity and therefore what they can transfer to their children. Understanding that articulations of citizenship are also systems of exclusion, this paper asks who can and cannot be a Kenyan citizen and why? What are the unintended consequences of efforts to escape Aristotle's conundrum?

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 141 - 172
Copyright
© 2019 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors would like to thank Luis Guarnizo for suggesting engagement with Aristotle, and the anonymous reviewers and editors, as well as Fleur Ng'weno for many helpful comments and suggestions.

References

References

Adebanwi, Wale (2009) “Terror, Territoriality and the Struggle for Indigeneity and Citizenship in Northern Nigeria,” 13 Citizenship Studies 349–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
African Union (2014) African Union Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and the Right to Nationality in Africa. 55th Ordinary Session May 2014.Google Scholar
Aiyar, Sana (2015) Indians in Kenya: The Politics of Diaspora. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Akyeampong, Emmanuel (2006) “Race, Identity and Citizenship in Black Africa: The Case of the Lebanese in Ghana,” 76 Africa: J. of the International African Institute 297–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Apostle, Hippocrates G. & Gerson, Lloyd P. (1986) Aristotle's Politics. Grinnell, IA: The Peripatetic Press.Google Scholar
Ashton, S.R. and Roger Louis, W. eds. (2004) British Documents on the End of the Empire: East of Suez and the Commonwealth 1964–1971 Part I East of Suez. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.Google Scholar
Babo, Alfred (2017) “Ivoirité and Citizenship in Ivory Coast: The Controversial Policy of Authenticity,” in Lawrance, B. N. & Stevens, J., eds., Citizenship in Question: Evidentiary Birthright and Statelessness. Durham: Duke University Press. 200–16.Google Scholar
Bah, Abu Bakarr (2010) “Democracy and Civil War: Citizenship and Peacemaking in Cote d'Ivoire,” 109 African Affairs 597–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bassey, Joseph Robert (2014) “An Assessment of impact of neglect of history on political stability in African countries: The Case of Cote d'Ivoire,” 6 African J. of History and Culture 149–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, Sara (1992) “Hegemony on a Shoestring: Indirect Rule and Access to Agricultural Land,” 62 Africa: J. of the International African Institute 327–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, Charles (1982) “Citizenship, Law and the State: The Nationality Act 1981,” 45 Modern Law Rev. 179–97.Google Scholar
Ceuppens, Bambi & Geschiere, Peter (2005) “Autochthony: Local or Global? New Modes in the Struggle over Citizenship and Belonging in Africa and Europe,” 34 Annual Rev. of Anthropology 365–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorman, Sara, Hammett, Daniel, & Nugent, Paul (2007) Making Nations, Creating Stranger: States and Citizenship in Africa. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.Google Scholar
The East African (2005) “Return of Balala the Fiery Street in Preacher” The East African Magazine Available at: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/434746-247718-c5x77i/index.html (accessed on 30th December 2017).Google Scholar
Geschiere, Peter (2009) The Perils of Belonging: Autochthony, Citizenship, and Exclusion in Africa and Europe. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geschiere, Peter (2011) “Autochthony, Citizenship, and Exclusion: Paradox in the Politics of Belonging in Africa and Europe,” 18 Indiana J. of Global Legal Studies 331–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghai, Y. P. & McAuslan, J. P. W. B. (2001 [1970]) Public law and Political Change in Kenya: A Study of the Legal Framework of Government from Colonial Times to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jurgen (1992) “Citizenship and National Identity: Some Reflections on the Future of Europe,” 12 Praxis International 1–19.Google Scholar
Hansen, Randall (1999) “The Kenyan Asian, British Politics, and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968,” 42 The Historical J. 809–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holston, James (2009) Insurgent Citizenship: Disjunctions of Democracy and Modernity in Brazil. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Jamal, Amal (2007) “Nationalizing States and the Constitution of ‘Hollow Citizenship’: Israel and its Palestinian Citizens,” 6 Ethnopolitics 471–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jayal, Niraja Gopal (2013) Citizenship and its Discontents: An Indian History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Kagwanja, Peter Mwangi (2003) “Globalizaing Ethnicity, Localizing Citizenship: Globalization, Identity Politics and Violence in Kenya's Tana River Region,” 28 Africa Development/Afrique et Développement 112–52.Google Scholar
Kanyinga, Karuti & Katumanga, Musambayi (2003) “Citizenship and Rights: The Failures of the Post-Colonial State in Africa,” 28 Africa Development/Afrique et Développement 153–72.Google Scholar
Kapur, Ratna (2007) “The Citizen and the Migrant: Postcolonial Anzieties, Law and the Politics of Exclusion/Inclusion,” 8 Theoretical Inquiries in Law 535–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karimi, Faith (2014) “Zambia's Guy Scott makes history as white president in sub-Saharan Africa,” CNN, October 30, 2014. Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/29/world/africa/zambia-white-president/index.html (accessed on October 14, 2016).Google Scholar
Kenya National Assembly (1964) The National Assembly House of Representatives Official Report Vol. 3 (2) Second Session Tuesday 28th July 1964 to Thursday 1st October 1964.Google Scholar
Kenya National Assembly (1972) “Kenya National Assembly: Parliamentary Debates.” 1972. Handsard (Official Report), 17the October 1972: 1092Google Scholar
Kenya National Assembly (1985) “Kenya National Assembly Official Report” Third Session Tuesday 9th March 1985 to Thursday 6th June 1985, 23rd May 1985 Vol. 65: 1429–1435Google Scholar
Kenya National Assembly (1994) “Kenya National Assembly: Parliamentary Debates.” 1994. Handsard (Official Report), Thursday 8th December 1994, Vol. 6(38): 1092.Google Scholar
Kobo, Ousman (2010) “‘We are Citizens Too’: The Politics of Citizenship in Independent Ghana,” 48 J. of Modern African Studies 67–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrance, Benjamin N. & Stevens, Jacqueline (2017) Citizenship in Question: Evidentiary Birthright and Statelessness. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Lee, Christopher J. (2011) “Jus Soli and Jus Sanguinis in the Colonies: The Interwar Politics of Race, Culture, and Multiracial Legal Status in British Africa,” 29 Law and History Rev. 497–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mamdani, Mahmood (1996) Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mamdani, Mahmood (2011) From Citizen to Refugee: Uganda Asians Come to Britain, Second ed. Cape Town, South Africa: Pambazuka Press.Google Scholar
Manby, Bronwen (2010) Citizenship Law in Africa: A Comparative Study. New York: Open Society Institute.Google Scholar
Manby, Bronwen (2015a) Nationality, Migration and Statelessness in West Africa. UNHCR and IOM.Google Scholar
Manby, Bronwen (2015b) Citizenship and Statelessness in Africa: The Law and Politics of Belonging. Oisterwijk, Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers.Google Scholar
Mazrui, Ali A. (1979) “Casualties of an Underdeveloped Class Structure: The Expulsion of Luo Workers and Asian Bourgeoisie from Uganda,” in Shacka, A. W. & Skinner, E. P., eds., Strangers in African Society. London, UK: University of California Press. 261–78.Google Scholar
Mbembe, Achile (2001) On the Postcolony: Studies on the History of Society and Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Mucai-Kattambo, Vicky, Kabeberi-Macharia, , & Kameri-Mbote, Patricia (1995) “Law and the Status of Women in Kenya,” in Kabeberi-Macharia, Janet, ed., Women, Laws, Customs, and Practices in East Africa – Laying the Foundation. Nairobi: Women and Law in East Africa. 80–96.Google Scholar
Nawabweze, B. O. (1973) Constitutionalism in Emergent States. London, UK: C. Hurst & Company.Google Scholar
Nayak, Pradip (1971) “Kenyan Asians: Apportioning the Blame,” 6 Economic and Political Weekly 923–6.Google Scholar
Ng'weno, Bettina (2012) “Beyond Citizenship as We Know It: Race and Ethnicity in Afro-Colombian Struggles for Citizenship Equality,” in Dixon, K. & Burdick, J., eds., Comparative Perspectives on Afro-Latin America. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 156–75.Google Scholar
Oded, Arye (1996) “Islamic Extremism in Kenya: The Rise and Fall of Shiekh Khalid Balala,” 26 J. of Religion in Africa 406–15.Google Scholar
Ojwang, J. B. (1990) Constitutional Development in Kenya: Institutional Adaptation and Social Change. Nairobi: ACTS Press.Google Scholar
Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O. (1972) “The Politics of Constitutional Change in Kenya Since Independence, 1963-1969,” 71 African Affairs 9–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, Polly J. (2017) “Jus Soli and Statelessness: A Comparative Perspective from the Americas” in Lawrance, B. N. and Stevens, J. eds. Citizenship in Question: Evidentiary Birthright and Statelessness. Durham: Duke University Press. 27–42.Google Scholar
Qureshi, Khalida (1968) “Kenyan Asians and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968,” 21 Pakistan Horizon 134–46.Google Scholar
Robins, Steven, Cornwal, Andrea, & Von Lieres, Bettina (2008) “Rethinking ‘Citizenship’ in the Postcolony,” 29 Third World Q. 1069–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sadiq, Kamal (2017) “Postcolonial Citizenship,” in Shachar, A., Bauboeck, R., Bloemraad, I., & Vink, M., eds., Oxford Handbook of Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 178–99.Google Scholar
Sawyer, Caroline (2013) “The Loss of Birthright Citizenship in New Zealand,” 44 Victoria Univ. of Wellington Law Rev. 653–74.Google Scholar
Shankardass, Mala Kapur (2001) “Is this My Country? To and From Kenya,” 28 India International Centre Q. 14–24.Google Scholar
Singh, Chanan (1965) “The Republican Constitution of Kenya: Historical Background and Analysis,” 14 The International and Comparative Law Q. 878–949.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, Jacqueline (2017) “Introduction,” in Lawrance, B. N. & Stevens, J., eds., Citizenship in Question: Evidentiary Birthright and Statelessness. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 1–24.Google Scholar
Sudarakasa, Niara (1979) “From Stranger to Alien: The Socio-Political History of the Nigeria Yoruba in Ghana 1900-1970,” in Shack, William A. & Skinner, Elliott P., eds., Strangers in African Societies. Berkeley: University of California Press Berkeley. 141–67.Google Scholar
Vidija, Patrick and Wekesa, Chrispinus (2016) “Uhuru Okays Stateless Makonde Community Citizenship, Title Deeds Claim,” The Star, 13th October 2016. Available at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/10/13/uhuru-okays-stateless-makonde-communitys-citizenship-title-deeds-claim_c1437950 (accessed on October 14, 2016).Google Scholar
Wasike, Andrew (2016) “Kenya's Makonde People Stateless No More,” Anadolu Agency 13, Oct 2016. Available at: http://aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenyas-makonde-people-stateless-no-more/664499 (accessed October 14, 2016).Google Scholar
Whitaker, Beth Elsie (2005) “Citizenship and Foreigners: Democratisation and the Politics of Exclusion in Africa,” 48 African Studies Rev. 109–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Cases Cited

Akar v. Attorney General of Sierra Leone (1969) 3 All E.R. 384 (All England Law Reports)Google Scholar
Attorney General (Botswana) v Unity Dow ((1992) B.L.R 119(CA))Google Scholar
East African Asians v The United Kingdom 4403/70 [ 1973 ] ECHR 2, 14 December 1973. Available at: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1973/2.html (accessed on October 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Hashumukh Devani v Cabinet Secretary Ministry of the Interior and Co-ordination of National Government and 3 others (High Court at Nairobi Pet. 405 of 2015 [2016] eKLR)Google Scholar
Legal Resources Foundation v Zambia Communication No 211/1998. Available at: http://www.achpr.org/communications/decision/211.98/ (accessed on October 14, 2016).Google Scholar
Lewanika and others v Fredrick Jacob Chiluba (11 ZMSC S.C.Z. Judgment No. 14 of 1998 Supreme Court of Zambia 10th November 1998). Available at: http://www.zamlii.org/zm/judgment/supreme-court/1998/11.html (accessed on October 12, 2016)Google Scholar
Motala and others v A-G (1991) 4 All E.R.Google Scholar