The High Court has okayed the return of a Niger diplomat Oumarou Moumouni Ali who was a consul to Kenya and was deported last year over alleged links to international crime.
Justice James Makau in his ruling on the diplomat who is the proprietor of the famous Kiza Lounge in the posh Kilimani area said that Ali’s deportation was illegal because he is a diplomat enjoying the right of no arrest and deportation while in Kenya.
Justice Makau directed the Immigration department under Interior Ministry to process Ali’s application for a work permit within one month from the date of receiving the request.
Further, the ministry was ordered by the court to issue a notification on the same through writing.
The first deportation order against Ali was issued in 2018 after the Foreign Affairs Ministry officially recognized him as he officer envoy for Niger to Kenya.
In April 2019, a second deportation order against the Niger consul to Kenya was issued on grounds that he was part of an international drug peddling ring.
Interestingly, intel shared with the Kenyan government cited that proceeds from the drug business are allegedly cleaned through Kiza Lounge.
Wind of a plot to deport him, Ali went into hiding. After eight days of a spirited manhunt, he was found in his Nyahururu hideout and was deported on August 22, 2019.
In September 2019, 11 days after his deportation, Interior CS Dr Fred Matiang’i declared him a prohibited immigrant.
In his petition after deportation, he told the court that he has been living in Kenya since 2008 and is married to a Kenyan woman. Together, they have two kids.
He also told the court that he had applied for Kenyan citizenship before his deportation but his request was not responded to as well as that to extend his work permit.
Now, the court faulted the Immigration Department saying that Ali should have been informed of his deportation before he was hounded out of the country.
“The petitioner herein was not served with the two (deportation) declarations nor was he given reasons for such declarations nor an opportunity to be heard. The respondents in doing so violated clear provisions of the Constitution and it is for these reasons that I find the two declarations are unlawful, arbitrary and null and void,” Justice Makau ruled.
