Canadian-based Kenyan national John Mulwa who is set to be deported from Canada to Kenya claims that he will be killer in Kenya.
Mulwa who is a chef says he is famed for introducing Kunde (Cow peas) and Managu (African nightshade) in Canada. He sought refuge in Canada in 2014.
Having lived in Canada for more than half a decade, Mulwa says that he has been one of the most vibrant people in the Kenyan community living in Canada known as Hamilton’s Kenyan Community.
On several fronts, Mulwa has fought deportation but the immigration department of Canada claims that he allegedly contravened the country’s immigration laws.
His friends have supported his spirited fight, decrying the removal order which they view as cruel.
Hamilton Community President Jared Kibagendi describes Mulwa as a natural host and a family guy.
“Mulwa is always the one behind the grill at community barbecues,” Kibagendi said. Mulwa is the Vice president of this Kenyan community in Canada.
“Kenya is not Canada. If they are going to deport Mulwa, they should deport him to another country because he will not be safe in Kenya,” Kibagendi added.
Mulwa claims to have applied for refugee status in Canada in 2014 but was denied. He has appealed the decision three times all of which were rejected.
In June 2022, he applied for a final appeal with the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review but was denied. The date for deportation is slated on January 28th, 2023.
Nonetheless, Mulwa clinging onto hope, applied for permanent residency on December 12th, 2022 on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
“Canada is home to me,” he says.
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“The people who are threatening me and my family are definitely going to come for me,” he stated.
John Mulwa says that Canadian Border Services officials asked him to provide proof of his life being in danger, for support to his case.
“How can you go to the same village where you are being threatened to ask random people to give you evidence of what you’re going through?” Mulwa posed.
In 2014, Mulwa says he was working abroad when he allegedly heard that some of his family members had been killed over a land dispute back in Kenya.
His plan was to go to the US and find work there but when he landed in British Columbia, Canada, he did a Google Search of where Kenyan refugees stayed in Canada.
Prior to fleeing Kenya, Mulwa was working on a cruise ship as a chef.
“I saw Canada is one of the best places where I can live… and feel safe,” he said.
His friend Kibagendi says that the decision to deport Mulwa to Kenya has traumatized most Kenyans who are living in Canada.
“Returning someone to a country that they sought asylum from carries particular risks and consequences for the individual, and the unnecessary decision to remove a dedicated leader, humanitarian, employee, taxpayer, volunteer, and generous community organizer has touched a raw community nerve and they are pushing back,” said Kenyans in Canada in an online petition.
Canadian Border Services Agency spokesperson, Rebecca Purdy stated that the chef has to exhaust all legal channels for the deportation decision to be reversed.
She added that Mulwa had no other option but to leave the country.