Is today the day I become a Kenyan citizen?

Since my father first caught sight of Mombasa from his ship in late 1929, at least some of my family has lived continuously in east Africa until now. After Kenya’s independence in 1963, many Europeans opted to become citizens of the new country, but my parents did not. All my life, I never had any doubt where I wanted to be most of all and once, after too long overseas, I recall bursting into tears when the pilot announced that we had entered Kenyan airspace.

Still, I grew up grateful that I held a British passport. It allowed me to travel the world as a correspondent, probably more easily than if I had held any other nationality. I have been proud to be British, yet I was always envious of those who held a Kenyan passport.