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Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and vocal human rights activist has successfully advocated for enhanced voting rights for the Kenyan Diaspora.
Through his persistent efforts, he successfully petitioned the government to allow Kenyans outside the country to register as voters using their Kenyan Identity Cards (IDs), a move that promises to simplify the voting process for thousands abroad.
“A passport is for traveling, the IEBC could use it as a tool for registration but the primary tool should be the ID,” Omtatah said during an exclusive interview with The Africana Voice at his Upper Hill office.
His advocacy culminated in a landmark decision by the High Court in Nairobi in January 2022, permitting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to register diaspora voters using either an ID or a valid passport. This directive, detailed in an internal memo by Marjan Hussein dated February 1, followed Omtatah’s petition filed earlier that month.
Beyond voting rights, Senator Omtatah voiced his concerns over the treatment of Kenyans returning from abroad. “Even at the airports, Kenyans coming in should be given preferential treatment like the one we see Europeans being given in Europe when they are going back to their countries,” he said. He also proposed upgrading the Diaspora Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a more robust and deliberative platform capable of addressing the myriad issues faced by Kenyans abroad.
Omtatah also urged the government to actively support Kenyan businesses overseas. “The government should actively support them to make more money which they will in turn invest back in Kenya,” he stated.
He shared insights from his recent visit to South Sudan, where he observed Ugandan businessmen thriving due to favorable government policies. “The government of Uganda is enabling Uganda businessmen to beat Kenyan businessmen hands down because these people go and get contracts from South Sudan, they do the contracts, they raise invoices in the name of South Sudan but the government of Uganda picks up and pays the bills,” Omtatah explained. He cautioned that without similar support, Kenyan businesses risk bankruptcy and losing competitive edge.
He also addressed internal challenges within the Kenyan Diaspora, and criticized the prevalent tribalism that hinders unity and progress. “The same tribalism you find here in Kenya is also very visible among them,” he noted. He called for Kenyans abroad to overcome these divisions and collaborate towards common national goals. “If we think that the Luhya in the room is my problem, or the Luo in the room or the Kikuyu in the room then we lose it big and we shall never be able to realize the potential that this country gives us even if we are in the Diaspora,” Omtatah offered.
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