Cabinet officials brace to relinquish Kenyan passports after presidential ultimatum

A mounting cohort of senior Somali government ministers is poised to surrender their Kenyan passports and national identity documents within days, heeding President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s ultimatum that dual citizens holding public office must forswear their foreign nationality or immediately vacate their posts, according to multiple informed sources.

The impending wave of surrenders represents the most aggressive enforcement of citizenship integrity standards within the executive branch in recent memory, building on Deputy Prime Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji’s unilateral decision to return his Kenyan travel documents—a move that effectively set a binding precedent for his cabinet colleagues.

Deputy Prime Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji became the first senior figure to bow to the directive when he formally handed over his Kenyan passport to the Kenyan Embassy in Mogadishu earlier this week. In a terse statement, Jibril asserted the move was designed to guarantee “complete transparency” in the execution of his official duties and to preempt any challenge to his national allegiance.

Sources who spoke to Dalsan on condition of anonymity, citing lack of authorisation to engage publicly on the matter, disclosed that several ministers and state ministers are now finalising arrangements to submit their Kenyan travel credentials and identification cards to the diplomatic mission. The sources indicated that the officials are acting with haste to avoid being perceived as defying the President’s edict, which was first articulated during a closed-door cabinet sitting last Thursday.