63. On whether the actions complained of were in conformity with Articles 6(d) and
7(2) of the Treaty, Counsel submitted that the Respondent’s confirmation that
the Applicant was denied entry and orders issued to return him to Kenya as a
prohibited immigrant, exhibited that he had been declared a prohibited
immigrant. He submitted further that he had shown that the Applicant was not
given any reasons for any of the adverse actions taken against him and that
the Respondent’s confirmation, in replying affidavits, that immigration officials
were under no obligation to give reasons to the Applicant, confirm that he was
not informed why adverse actions were taken against him.
64. It was Counsel’s further submission that in light of the Applicant’s guaranteed
right of free movement within the EAC under the Treaty and the Protocol, and
his right of redress under Article 54(2) of the Protocol, the Respondent was
obliged to accord him natural justice through a legal process that adhered to
the rule of law, accountability, transparency and protection of human rights in
accordance with Articles 6(d) and 7(2) of the Treaty.
65. Counsel disputed the Respondent’s assertion that the process that the
Applicant went through by filling in a card, lining up and waiting to present his
travel documents to the immigration control officials at Entebbe Airport,
amounts to a legal and administrative process. He contended that this process
does not qualify as a hearing as known to the law and natural justice. Counsel
further contended, that the reason the Respondent gave for denying the
Applicant entry, i.e. that it was in the security interests of the people of East
Africa, is a matter that cannot rest with an immigration official at the airport
counter as the competent authority to determine after filing in a card, lining up
and waiting to present travel documents.
REFERENCE NO.5 OF 2011
Page 32