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Ezekiel Mutua livid after diplomatic passport withdrawn

“While a diplomatic passport is a privilege given to me by my employer, its withdrawal must follow the laid down procedures of a fair and procedural administrative action,” he said/CFM, NEWS

“While a diplomatic passport is a privilege given to me by my employer, its withdrawal must follow the laid down procedures of a fair and procedural administrative action,” he said/CFM, NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 2 – The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) Chief Executive Officer Ezekiel Mutua has protested the revocation of his diplomatic passport by the Immigration Department describing it as unprocedural.

In a press statement, Mutua wants the directive withdrawn since “due process was not followed and he has not committed any crime.”

He pointed out that even after leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he had been assigned various diplomatic duties by the government which he carried out diligently.

“While a diplomatic passport is a privilege given to me by my employer, its withdrawal must follow the laid down procedures of a fair and procedural administrative action,” he said.

“It is clear that I was issued with the diplomatic passport legally and procedurally. Even after leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have been assigned various diplomatic duties by the government through the ministry, which I have carried out diligently. At no point have I ever abused or used the said diplomatic passport for personal gain.”

He further stated that officers who have served in diplomatic positions continue to hold their diplomatic passports until they expire, or they retire from service.

“The diplomatic passport is a privilege that was granted to me by the Government in 2012 after I was transferred from the Ministry of Information and Communications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on diplomatic status,” he pointed out.

He explained that the manner in which the revocation had been communicated with him has dented his image which he had worked hard to keep above board.

“I must therefore protest in the strongest terms possible the purported revocation of the passport without prior notification or warning. To learn of such a development from the media while abroad is not only embarrassing but unfair, given that I am out of the country on official duties on behalf of the government,” he stated.

Mutua was last week ordered to surrender his diplomatic passport for an ordinary one by the Immigration Department, since he is not entitled to one.

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READ : FB post costs Ezekiel Mutua his diplomatic passport

The department explained that Mutua was supposed to have returned the passport the moment he stopped being an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mutua had posted the passport on Facebook while bragging to the public he had been issued with a US visa despite his stand on gay rights.

The move led to public outcry over his firm remarks against the LGBT group, which is largely accepted in the US.

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