NAIROBI, Kenya- Somalia’s Second Deputy Prime Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji has surrendered his Kenyan passport and national identity card following a directive from Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, amid growing scrutiny over senior government officials holding Kenyan identification documents.
The development comes weeks after Haji was denied entry into Kenya and deported from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport over allegations that he possessed a fraudulently acquired Kenyan passport.
In a statement released after the incident, Haji denied any wrongdoing, insisting that allegations surrounding his travel to Kenya were “false, baseless, and unsupported by fact.”
He also reaffirmed Somalia’s commitment to maintaining strong diplomatic ties with Kenya.
According to Somali media reports, President Mohamud later directed the deputy prime minister to surrender the Kenyan passport and national identity card to the relevant Somali authorities as investigations continue into how the documents were acquired.
The passport controversy erupted after Kenyan immigration officials reportedly flagged Haji during routine clearance at JKIA.
He had arrived from Mogadishu using a valid Somali diplomatic passport and visa but was alleged to have also been in possession of a Kenyan passport.
A police report cited by multiple media outlets claimed Haji acknowledged possessing the Kenyan passport but declined to surrender it, saying he would only produce it before a court of law.
He was subsequently denied entry and returned to Mogadishu.
The incident sparked renewed debate in Kenya over the alleged illegal acquisition of Kenyan identity documents by foreign nationals, with calls for investigations into the integrity of the country’s civil registration and passport issuance systems.
