- American freelance journalist Margot Kiser Jones filed a lawsuit against the Kenyan government after her deportation to Dubai on March 8, 2026
- Jones, known for covering the Shakahola Forest massacre trial, argued she was never shown the intelligence report that led to her removal
- A three-year residency permit issued to Jones four months after she was declared a prohibited immigrant sits at the centre of her legal challenge
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An American freelance journalist who covered the Shakahola Forest massacre trial has filed a constitutional lawsuit against the Kenyan government, challenging her deportation to Dubai and demanding to be allowed back into the country.
Source: Twitter
Margot Kiser Jones, a Kenya-based correspondent whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Al Jazeera, and The Daily Beast, named the Directorate of Immigration Services, the Ministry of Interior, and the Attorney-General as respondents.
She argues that her deportation breached her right to fair administrative action under Article 47 of the Constitution.
How Jones Was Deported
The Kenyan government formally designated Jones a prohibited immigrant on October 9, 2025, based on an intelligence report claiming she was engaged in activities harmful to Kenya's moral fabric and national security.
She was then deported on March 8, 2026, not to the United States but to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Jones states in a sworn affidavit that she was never shown the intelligence report, never served with the declaration barring her re-entry, and had no opportunity to respond before being removed from the country.
She says she only became aware of the documents after the government filed its court response.
"By failing to notify me of the decision, the respondents effectively denied me my constitutional right to challenge the decision before its implementation," she stated.
The Residency Permit at the Centre of the Case
A key contradiction in the government's position involves a three-year Class K residency permit issued to Jones on February 5, 2026, four months after she had already been declared a prohibited immigrant.
Jones contends that the permit either invalidated the earlier declaration or gave her legitimate grounds to believe she was lawfully entitled to remain in Kenya.
The government attributed the permit's issuance to a misspelling of her surname in its Personal Identification Secure and Evaluation System, which it says prevented the system from detecting her prohibited status. Jones maintains that any such administrative failure rests squarely with the government.
She has also questioned why, if she posed a genuine national security threat, authorities allowed her to move freely within Kenya for approximately six months after the declaration.
She further argued that being deported to Dubai, a city where she had no prior contacts or accommodation arrangements, exposed her to foreseeable safety risks.
The Directorate of Immigration Services, the Ministry of Interior, and the Attorney-General have defended their actions, maintaining that the deportation was conducted lawfully under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act and that no immigration document can override a prohibited immigrant designation.
Jones is asking the court to declare both the prohibited immigrant designation and her deportation unconstitutional, compel the government to facilitate her return, instruct immigration authorities not to obstruct her re-entry, disclose her full immigration records, and award her damages for emotional distress and the safety risks she faced upon arriving in Dubai.
Judge Diana Kavedza issues judgement on Shakahola
In other news on TUKO.co.ke, Mombasa High Court Judge Diana Kavedza ruled on Monday, October 19, 2026, that Paul Mackenzie’s Good News International Ministries was a cult, citing evidence of apocalyptic beliefs, isolation of followers and restrictions on their freedom.
The court heard that members were prevented from leaving the Shakahola settlement, contacting outsiders or accessing education, healthcare and child immunisation, while Mackenzie allegedly encouraged followers to fast to death to meet Jesus.
Mackenzie and 29 co-accused face murder charges over the deaths of 191 people, most of them children, although all 30 have pleaded not guilty and deny forcing anyone to die.
The Shakahola tragedy came to light in March 2023 after an escapee raised the alarm, leading investigators to uncover hundreds of bodies in Kilifi County, with more than 400 deaths ultimately linked to the settlement.
Source: TUKO.co.ke