Declare your stand on Miguna’s return, elders tell government

Lawyer Miguna Miguna. He wants to come to Kenya. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Mr Miguna was deported to Canada in March, 2018, after he led the swearing-in of ODM leader Raila Odinga as “the people’s president” at Uhuru Park.

  • His planned return to the country has been dogged by controversies and court battles.

  • He was denied a chance to board Kenyan-bound planes from France and Germany.

  • The elders urged President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Odinga to agree and allow Mr Miguna to return home.

A faction of the Luo Council of Elders has expressed concern over the frustrations lawyer Miguna Miguna is undergoing as he attempts to return to Kenya from Canada.

Led by Chairman Ker Nyandiko Ongadi and member Walter Ambasa, the elders expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the government is handling attempts by the self-proclaimed general of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to return to the country.

Mr Ongadi challenged the government to clarify its stand on Mr Miguna’s return, arguing that no one knows what crime the lawyer had committed to deserve the inhumane treatment from the Kenyan authorities.

“Denying Mr Miguna access to Kenya is a violation of his rights. Why must he continue suffering in foreign countries?” Mr Ongadi wondered, as he addressed journalists in Kendu Bay town yesterday.

Mr Nyandiko said that Mr Miguna had simply travelled abroad and should not, therefore, be barred from returning to Kenya to reunite with his family.

Mr Miguna was deported to Canada in March, 2018, after he led the swearing-in of ODM leader Raila Odinga as “the people’s president” at Uhuru Park.

His planned return to the country has been dogged by controversies and court battles.

He was denied a chance to board Kenyan-bound planes from France and Germany.

The elders urged President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Odinga to agree and allow Mr Miguna to return home.

Mr Ongadi said Mr Miguna was no threat to the peace and tranquillity Kenyans have been enjoying are currently enjoying after the March 9, 2018, handshake between President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga.

But on Wednesday, the government distanced itself from the lawyer’s problems, claiming he was a victim of his own behaviour.

Spokesman Cyrus Oguna denied claims the government had prevented the lawyer from entering the country, arguing that the failure of his trip to Kenya twice on Tuesday was the result of the events of March 2018, which saw Mr Miguna categorised as an unruly passenger.

Mr Oguna said the International Civil Aviation Organisation had categorised Dr Miguna as an unruly passenger because of the commotion he caused at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport before the government deported him to Canada for the second time on March 27, 2018.