On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 7:44 PM, saidimu apale <saidimu@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't know how much press the following story got in the local media, but here's a quick summary:
A Somali-Canadian, Suaad, left Toronto to visit her mom in Nairobi. On her
way back, just before boarding at JKIA, she was stopped by a Kenyan employee of KLM who doubted her identity. The Canadian High Commission in Nairobi (the one in a swanky building in Gigiri) was contacted and officials there told the Kenyan officials that Suaad was an impostor and that her passport didn't belong to her. So, with the help of the High Commission, Kenyan officials charged her with a variety of crimes and whisked her to remand in Lang'ata Women's prison. She spent 8 days there before she was released on bail.
She had 11 pieces of other ID on her (driver's license, medical insurance
card, etc etc) but the Canadian officials wouldn't listen. She pleaded with them to call her employer and her relatives in Toronto but they wouldn't budge. Finally after 3 months, as part of her case in the Kenyan system, a DNA test was conducted and matched with samples collected from her son in Toronto. She was determined to be who she claimed to be and is now back in Toronto.
The worst of Kenya - corrupt officials, airports, prisons, (in)justice system - has been on display for the past 2-3 weeks, loud and clear.
Perhaps, they should have started with an apology to the poor lady, who had to spend 8 days in a Kenyan prison because of their own stereotyping. And much as Kenya has all those vices ( now being seen under a huge magnifying lens thanks to attempts to divert attention from their guilt ) , the problem seems to have started with the Canadian High Commission itself calling Suaad an impostor. Our corrupt officials, airports, prisons, (in)justice system are not the issue here, the real issue which they try to draw attention away from is that they wronged one of their own. And that, sadly, based on a stereotype of anybody with a name that suggests Islam is their religion. -- Ndungi Kyalo