Nubians, a recognized Kenyan ethnic community, says Murkomen

Nubians are among the recognized ethnic communities in the country, and community members are being registered as citizens within the national registration framework.

The Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said with the vetting process abolished by President William Ruto in February this year, the community is no longer facing barriers in acquiring a national identity card.

Responding to a question in the Senate from Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Murkomen said the special vetting mechanism that the community was subjected to is now abolished, and the community is now fully integrated into the national registration framework.

“His Excellency the President on 5th February 2025 directed the discontinuation of the additional vetting requirements that had been applied during the resistance and issuance of National Identification documents to certain communities and individuals residing in specific regions of the country. The Nubian community was among the groups that benefited from this directive,” he said.

He explained that the government has taken deliberate measures, including the abolition of extra vetting and the standardization of the national registration process, to ensure that all citizens, including the Nubian community, enjoy equal treatment and access to identification and the citizenship process.

The late Issa Abdul Faraj (centre), the former chairman of the Nubian Council of Elders during a community consultative meeting on community matters

The CS further pointed out that as part of the process to recognize their ethnicity, the Nubians were officially assigned a distinct ethnic code in 2022, thereby recognizing them as a Kenyan ethnic community. "Over time, the Ministry has progressively reviewed and updated ethnic codes for additional communities, including sub-tribes that have asserted distinct ethnic identities separate from larger linguistic or cultural groups. As part of this ongoing process, the Nubian community was officially assigned a distinct ethnic code, Code Number 50, in 2022, thereby recognising them as a Kenyan ethnic community within the national registration framework," he said.

While the community has been experiencing challenges in acquiring national identification documents, in his response, the CS clarified that the government has been issuing national identification documents to the members of the Nubian community since the introduction of the first-generation ID card in 1978.

The Senator had demanded a ministerial statement on why members of the Nubian community continued to face barriers in acquiring national identification documents and sought to know the measures taken by the interior ministry to end the discrimination. He also wanted to be appraised of the measures the government has taken to expedite reparations for the Nubian community for historical land injustices occasioned by lack of recognition.

In March this year during an iftar programme at State House, President Ruto said plans were underway to integrate the community into the Kenyan society, as he appreciated their impact in the development of the nation and the progress of Kenya.

“Our Nubian brothers and sisters are solid members of the Kenyan society. This year we shall conclude the exercise of them being mainstreamed in the Kenyan society,” he said.

For decades, the Nubians were considered stateless, facing challenges in accessing IDs, land titles, and other rights. In 2011, the community, frustrated by the lack of progress in their quest to seek justice, took its case to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, the Gambia. In a landmark ruling, the court ruled in their favor, recognising them as a distinct ethnic group in Kenya entitled to citizenship and equal rights.

The Nubians, whose largest number reside in Nairobi’s Kibera slums are originally from Sudan and were brought to East Africa by the British colonial government in the late 1800s. They were conscripted in the King’s African Rifles (KAR), a colonial army that policed and defended British territories.