Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga has defended Mwende Mwinzi against Members of Parliament who have demanded her to revoke her American citizenship in order to take up the South Korea ambassadorial job.
Raila termed Mwinzi's treatment by the MPs as ‘extremely disturbing and dubious.’
According to the former Prime Minister, calls for Mwinzi to denounce her American citizenship have made her less of a Kenyan and more of a criminal.
“The whole debate around whether she qualifies to be Kenya’s ambassador has cast her as a criminal and reduced her to being less Kenyan than the Members of Parliament while the spirit of letter of the law should protect her,” Raila said in a statement quoted by Citizen Digital.
The ODM leader, in his statement furher accused the MPs of prioritizing their 'partisan interest'. He insisted that there was no good reason that prevented Mwinzi from being Kenya’s ambassador to South Korea.
“..She cannot denounce any because both have been acquired not by application and naturalization but by operation of the law,” he noted while also quoting article 144 of the constitution which gives directives on how one becomes a citizen of Kenya.
Mwinzi has filed a case in court seeking orders to instruct the Kenyan Government to send her to South Korea without her revoking her American citizenship as the MPs are demanding.