Political activist and lawyer Miguna Miguna says his spirited fight to return to Kenya has left him with a big hole in the pocket.
Dr Miguna has been trying to return since January 7 but has encountered challenges including a red alert issued by the government, preventing him from flying to Kenya or any other African country.
The lawyer says accommodation, meals, travel and communication in European cities, where he got stuck recently, have set him back over Sh3 million.
In an exclusive email interview with the Nation, he said his trips around Europe, as he looked for an alternative route to land in Nairobi, “drained me financially”.
He cited Berlin, where he got stuck after Lufthansa Airlines refused to let him board a flight, saying life was very expensive in the German capital.
HUGE COSTS
The lawyer noted that a night’s accommodation at a decent hotel in European cities costs between 120 and 200 Euros (Sh13,500 and Sh22,500).
“For the eight days… in Berlin, I’ve spent more than 2,000 Euros (Sh225,450) on accommodation and food,” he said.
“I used about $2,500 (Sh250,000) to travel to Switzerland, Austria and France in search of alternative means of transportation to Kenya, only to discover that the illegitimate regime of Uhuru Kenyatta has issued red alerts to all airlines using the Kenyan airspace.”
COURT ORDERS
Dr Miguna was first deported in February 2018 after he ran foul of the government by administering an oath to ODM leader Raila Odinga as the ”people’s president” on January 30, 2018.
He pursued the matter of his return in court, a case in which Justice Chacha Mwita ruled that his rights were violated by his deportation.
The judge suspended Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i’s declaration that the lawyer is a prohibited immigrant.
He also suspended the cancellation of his passport and ordered the Immigration Department to facilitate his return from Canada.
At the time, Justice Mwita awarded Dr Miguna Sh7 million as compensation for the violation of his rights during the deportation, noting the process should have been in line with the Fair Administrative Act.