Stateless communities are among the hardest-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, human rights organisations have said.
According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the stateless people have been locked out of government services due to lack of proper documentation.
KHRC programme manager Diana Gichengo said the majority of the programmes meant to cushion residents from the effects of the coronavirus only benefited Kenyan citizens.
“Assistance was targeting registered Kenyans in possession of national identification cards,” Gichengo said.
There are more than 20,000 members of the stateless communities in Kenya including Rundi, Pemba and Makonde – at least those who have identified themselves.
Gichengo spoke on Sunday at Kichakamkwaju village in Shimoni within Lunga Lunga subcounty while giving Sh2,500 stipends to over 100 households of the Pemba community.
The money was meant to temporarily sustain them as they endure the effects of Covid-19.
She said the government directives to curb the spread of the virus had hugely affected the non-citizens.
They were frequently arrested during the curfew time and their main source of livelihoods disrupted, she said.
Since the Makonde group was declared the 43rd tribe by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2017, Rundis and Pembas became susceptible, although not all the Makondes were registered.
Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa hold about 7,800 individuals of the Pemba community.
Some reside in Lamu and other areas in the country.
Gichego called on the government to expedite the process of recognising the remaining stateless communities.
She said it is inhumane to deny citizenship people who have lived with the rest of the Kenyans for so many years.
“If the government managed to register some communities, why can’t it be equally applied to the remaining ones?”
The Pemba who originate from Zanzibar in Tanzania are believed to have set foot in Kenya before World War II; as the Makonde from Mozambique claim.
She said the law that was designed to identify and register non-citizens has expired, asking the state to give proper directives to protect the rights of the stateless people.
Pemba chairman Shaame Hamisi said it has been hard for them to receive crucial government services without national IDs and birth certificates.
The Pemba are known as great fishermen and Hamisi said they cannot secure loans from banks to improve their livelihoods.
He said fishing has become hard as oftentimes they are asked for documents to process permits for their activities.
“It has been three months now, I can’t go fishing. I fear arrest because the fisheries officials require one to register and should carry ID cards all the time,” he said.
Hamisi said their children’s education is hurt as it’s almost impossible to apply for bursaries.
He added that tycoons have taken advantage of the situation with some evicting them from their ancestral lands.
Sada Makame, 51, said women cannot enrol for empowerment programmes for lacking documentation.
She said they mainly depend on small businesses that are far from growing.
Makame said they also get conned by people pretending to help with the registration.
“So many individuals have come here and tricked us. I once opened a bank account using my friend’s ID, unfortunately, she turned against me and took the money,” she said.
The stateless communities want President Kenyatta to consider their plight.