b.lenah89@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\nMombasa, Kenya \u2013\u00a0 Nambara\u2019s story reflects the struggles of a small but growing community of Rundians who settled in Kenya long before independence but remain denied citizenship.<\/p>\n
She identifies as Rundian because when her grandfather migrated to Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi were still a single territory, giving their community its name.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not equal,\u201d Nambara says. \u201cEven if we go to school, it doesn\u2019t get us far. We learn, but we cannot find employment. Sometimes the law limits us through our parents. We study, but we cannot even register for national exams because we don\u2019t have legal identification.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Nambara\u2019s case, statelessness means being born and raised in Kenya but not being legally recognized as a citizen by any country. She lacks an identity card, nationality, and access to basic rights and services.<\/p>\n
Her grandfather arrived in Kenya in 1959 seeking work on colonial-era farms. Her parents toiled as farm laborers, many in conditions akin to slavery. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to continue that life,\u201d she says. \u201cWe don\u2019t want our children to inherit the same hardships.\u201d<\/p>\n
When her father passed away two years ago, he could not be buried where he had worked. A friend\u2014a Burundian married to a Kenyan\u2014offered them a resting place. \u201cIf we had identity cards, we could own land, access banks, and take better care of our families,\u201d Nambara adds.<\/p>\n
The lack of identification even affects everyday activities. \u201cWe are forced to borrow someone else\u2019s identity just to register mobile phones,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you came looking for Esther, you wouldn\u2019t find her. People know me as Hanifa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Healthcare is another major challenge. Without formal jobs or Social Health Insurance (SHA) coverage, paying for hospital bills is impossible. \u201cWe have nothing. When bills accumulate, we just wait for death,\u201d she says quietly.<\/p>\n
For Nambara and the Rundians\u2014estimated at around 2,150 people in Kwale\u2014daily life is a struggle. Children go to school without documents, cannot sit for national exams, and often go hungry. Access to healthcare and financial services like bank accounts is nearly impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wish we could be refugees,\u201d Nambara laments. \u201cAt least refugees get food, school support, and recognition. But we have lived here for generations, and the law ignores us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenya gained independence in 1963, yet the Rundians remain invisible. By law, anyone in Kenya before independence should be recognized as a citizen. Bureaucratic hurdles and historical oversight have left Rundians stateless, while neighboring groups such as the Pemba and Makonde have secured identification.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pemba, Makonde, and Rundians all worked on farms,\u201d says Henedy Mwafijo, a paralegal officer with Haki Centre, a rights-based organization supporting stateless communities. \u201cThrough our community registration program, the Pemba and Makonde received membership cards, which later paved the way for national identity documents and formal recognition as citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Makonde were granted full citizenship and identity documents in 2017 after decades of statelessness, while the Pemba secured official recognition and began receiving IDs in 2023. Nambara\u2019s community remains without legal identity, shut out from basic rights and services. \u201cWe are now working to follow the same process for the Rundians,\u201d Mwafijo says.<\/p>\n
Haki Centre introduced a community register to track origins, population size, and identities, aiming to end statelessness and ensure Rundians can access rights like other Kenyans.<\/p>\n
Nambara remains cautiously hopeful. \u201cSince partnering with Haki Centre, we see progress and a possible future. Leaders have promised to help us get our identities. We are waiting for a yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rundians\u2019 plight highlights a larger issue of statelessness affecting vulnerable communities across Kenya. Without official recognition, generations grow up unable to fully participate in society, trapped in cycles of poverty and marginalization.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are Kenyan in every way,\u201d Nambara insists. \u201cWe work, we contribute, yet the law refuses to acknowledge us. We want identification so we can live with dignity, own land, access healthcare, educate our children, and build a future.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Rundians, the plea is simple: recognition, equality, and the chance to claim the rights that have been denied to them for generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Born on Kenyan soil, yet denied identity, rights, and recognition for generations. Esther Bonface Nambara, 42, lives in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[80],"class_list":{"0":"post-19031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-kenya"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}