How Kenya risked international war by attempting to deport Miguna - Journalist

As the crisis continues, Kenyans must be aware that the Miguna situation has placed Kenya in a precarious situation that could very easily break a country that has previously prided itself as a constitutional democracy.

Diplomatic situation

Kenyan government officials have demonstrated an unexpected level of ineptitude in dealing with the NRM general.

On Monday, police officers attempted to forcefully deport Miguna on an Emirates flight heading to Dubai.

The officers were unaware that the Captain of the plane could not fly the plane if Miguna was unwilling to board.

Some of the police officers were overheard ordering the captain to fly out of the airport.

Had the police compelled the Captain to fly out Miguna without a deportation order, the situation could have easily sparked conflict with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which owns the plane.

Under international aviation regulations, local authorities are not allowed to interfere with the running of a foreign plane.

The events at JKIA could also affect Kenya’s relations with Canada where Miguna is a citizen,as well as with IATA - and possibly result in cancellation of the deal that allowed direct flights to the United States.

Peace deal at stake

Miguna’s return has come in the wake of the famous handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the “People President” Raila Odinga.

Siaya Senator James Orengo had stated that facilitating Miguna’s return was part of the peace deal between the two leaders.

From Monday’s events, President Kenyatta has already breached the deal and it could very well be the end of the cease fire witnessed in the past three weeks.

Raila losing grip on Nyanza

Even if the peace deal is allowed, the drama at JKIA has caused tension in Odinga’s strongholds of Nyanza. Opposition supporters feel that their leader got a raw deal in the agreement reached with President Kenyatta.

If Odinga were to lose his support base to Miguna or to any other person, that would give momentum to many of problems that the peace deal had sought to resolve.

Disregard for court orders

It is inexplicable that Miguna is unable to gain access to his motherland despite having more than ten orders that upheld his inherent right to be a Kenyan citizen and to be allowed back to the country.

The court order that required the Immigration department to facilitate Miguna’s return had also overturned an earlier decision by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i, purporting to withdraw the lawyer's citizenship.

Government spin doctors have claimed to be in compliance with the court order, but demanded that IATA regulations require Miguna to submit his travel document (which they destroyed), failure to which he should fill some forms requesting to “regain his Kenyan citizenship”.

One then wonders, if the government is serious about implementing a court order, on what logic would Miguna fill a form “regain his citizenship”?

The simple answer is that the government has no regard for the court orders which sets the pace for anarchy - a reality that should worry every Kenya.