Responses to Information Requests

​​​​​​​Responses to Information Requests (RIRs) are research reports on country conditions. They are requested by IRB decision-makers.

The database contains a seven-year archive of English and French RIRs. Earlier RIRs may be found on the European Country of Origin Information Network website.

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Disclaimer

Responses to Information Requests (RIRs) cite publicly accessible information available at the time of publication and within time constraints. A list of references and additional sources consulted are included in each RIR. Sources cited are considered the most current information available as of the date of the RIR.            

RIRs are not, and do not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Rather, they are intended to support the refugee determination process. More information on the methodology used by the Research Directorate can be found here.          

The assessment and weight to be given to the information in the RIRs are the responsibility of independent IRB members (decision-makers) after considering the evidence and arguments presented by the parties.           

The information presented in RIRs solely reflects the views and perspectives of the sources cited and does not necessarily reflect the position of the IRB or the Government of Canada.          

23 March 2021

ZZZ200549.E

Kenya and Somalia: Copy of a Kenyan lawyer's stamp being fraudulently used to notarize affidavits, including for Somali clients (2018–March 2021)

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

In a 15 March 2021 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, Kenyan lawyer Alice Gulenywa of Gulenywa Jonathan & Co. Advocates indicated that her [lawyer's] stamp was stolen in 2018; she changed her stamp and has not used the stolen stamp since 2018 (Gulenywa 15 Mar. 2021). The same source noted that she is only aware of this single incident in 2018 when her stamp was stolen and further explained that her stamp has not been stolen again since she changed her stamp [as of the date of the interview] (Gulenywa 15 Mar. 2021). Information on incidents of fraudulent use of Alice Gulenywa's stamp could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

In a follow-up telephone interview with the Research Directorate on 18 March 2021, Gulenywa stated that affidavits must be accompanied by a letter from the Kenyan High Court and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a stamp from her office; otherwise, it is not an affidavit issued from her office (Gulenywa 15 Mar. 2021).

For information on Kenyan affidavits, including the procedure for the issuance of affidavits and the availability of fraudulent affidavits, see Response to Information Request KEN105566 of August 2016.

Descriptions or samples of Alice Gulenywa's stamps, used prior to and after 2018, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Gulenywa, Alice. 18 March 2021. Telephone interview with the Research Directorate.

Gulenywa, Alice. 15 March 2021. Telephone interview with the Research Directorate.

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Bowmans; ecoi.net; Kenya – embassy in Germany, high commission in Ottawa; Law Business Research – Lexology; Law Society of Kenya; Thomson Reuters – Practical Law; UN – Refworld.

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