Frontier Eye Desk
Nairobi, Kenya.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has affirmed that Kenya’s Nubian community has been legally recognised as a distinct ethnic group since 1978, complete with its own registration code and full access to national identification documents.
Appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, Murkomen told Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna that the Directorate of National Registration Bureau (NRB) granted the Nubians a dedicated ethnic code when the first-generation national ID cards were introduced.
“Nubians have been registered and issued with National Identification documents since the introduction of the first-generation ID card in 1978,” Murkomen said.
He further clarified that no separate “citizenship code” is required, as the community already enjoys the same legal status and entitlements as all other recognised Kenyan ethnic groups.
The statement settles a long-running debate among Nubian leaders who have for years called for formal codification of their ethnic identity — a recognition that, according to the Interior Ministry, has been in place for nearly five decades.
The Nubian community, largely residing in Nairobi’s Kibra and parts of Kisumu, traces its Kenyan heritage to pre-independence soldiers who served in the King’s African Rifles.