Free Republic is going absolutely bonkers over a document claiming to be an official copy of his Kenyan Birth Certificate, posted at World Net Daily.

It's a poor forgery.

If you look at the document and scroll down to the bottom, you will see on the left side the reputed embossed official seal, and under it, "Office of the Principal Registrar, Coast Province, Republic of Kenya."

Directly to the right of that seal is the issue date of the document, the "17th day of February, 1964."

The was no Republic of Kenya in February of 1964.

From December 12, 1963 to December 12, 1964, the Dominion of Kenya existed under Queen Elizabeth, with Governor General Malcolm MacDonald in charge.

The Republic of Kenya did not exist when this document was supposed to be issued.

Details, details...

Update: Some in the comments are still attempting to argue that the certificate might be legitimate because the link's above to Wikipedia aren't good sources. That's fine with me.

Here's what the Encyclopedia Britannica had to say about the creation of the post-colonial government of Kenya:

A coalition government of the two parties was formed in 1962, and after elections in May 1963 Kenyatta became prime minister under a constitution that gave Kenya self-government. Following further discussions in London, Kenya became fully independent on Dec. 12, 1963. A year later, when Kenya became a republic (with Kenyatta as its first president and Oginga Odinga as vice president), most KADU members had transferred their allegiance to KANU, and KADU ceased to exist.

Just as I said, the nation ceased to be a British colony on December 12, 1963. A year later, on December 12, 1964, it became the Republic of Kenya. Any document released in February of 1964, 10 months before the Kenyan government decided to call it a republic, is a fake.

The Definitive Evidence: From the Parliament of Kenya's official web site:

Uhuru Day
The interim period of Internal Self-government, did not witness any major constitutional changes. The constitutional provisions finalized in February, 1963 remained virtually the same.At midnight on December 11, 1963 , Kenya regained Independence from the United Kingdom.

Kenya remained a dominion within the British Commonwealth , with a Governor-General representing Her Majesty locally and a Government headed by a Prime Minister.

Again, establishes beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Dominion of Kenya was established in 1963... unless you think they Keyan government doesn't know their own history.

And there is more, again from the official web site of the Kenyan Parliament:

The composition to the Legislature and the framework of the Government at Independence remained in place until the first anniversary. Arising from close negotiations between the Government and the Opposition, a merger of all the parties represented in the House, under the Kenya African National Union - K.A.N.U. and under the leadership of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was concluded and took effect on December 12, 1964 with the voluntary dissolution of the Kenya African Democratic Union - K.A.D.U. and the African Peoples Party - A.P.P. This merger meant an unanticipated de facto one party status. On December 12, 1964 , Kenya declared herself a Sovereign Republic within the Commonwealth.

Read that last line one more time.

The document is a fake, kids.

Give. It. Up.

Stick-A-fork-In_It Update: Via the Washington Independent, strong evidence that the original "Kenyan" birth certificate forgery is based upon an Australian BC of David Jeffrey Bomford.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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