Can you be stopped from leaving Kenya or living where you want?
Constitution of Kenya · sources read 5 Oct 2026
Every person has the right to move freely and to leave Kenya, and every citizen has the right to enter, stay in and live anywhere in Kenya. These rights can only be limited by a law, and only as far as is reasonable, for example bail terms set by a court or a KRA departure order over unpaid tax.
- Where
- The court handling your criminal case (for bail terms); KRA (for a tax departure order); the High Court (for a constitutional petition).
Steps
- If bail terms stop you travelling or set where you live, you can apply to the court to review the bail conditions. Courts must tell accused persons about this right.
- If KRA has stopped you leaving over tax, it must lift the departure order once you pay the tax in full or make a payment arrangement it accepts.
- If you are stopped from moving, leaving or living somewhere without a law behind it, you can file a petition at the High Court asking it to protect your right.
Watch out
- These rights are not absolute: a law can limit them, but only as far as is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society.
- A court can make handing in your passport a condition of bail while your case goes on.
- Under a KRA departure prohibition order, immigration must stop you leaving and can hold your passport or ID until the order is lifted.
Who this covers
- Every person in Kenya has the right to freedom of movement.
- Every person, citizen or not, has the right to leave Kenya.
- Every citizen has the right to enter Kenya and to stay and live anywhere in it.
Official sources (3)
- Constitution of Kenya, 2010 new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Bail and Bond Policy Guidelines judiciary.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Tax Procedures Act (Cap. 469B), version of 1 September 2026, section 45 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026