Kenya's President William Ruto has granted citizenship to members of the stateless Pemba community, who were only officially recognised among the country's ethnic groups in February.
Citizenship will give the group "the identity and recognition that they deserve" and allow the community to access public services, President Ruto said.
"This, effectively, ends Pemba community’s statelessness and marginalisation that has lasted for close to 100 years,” he said during the Friday event.
The Pemba community is estimated to be about 7,000 in number and have settled in Kenya's coastal regions of Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa and Lamu.
The president issued identity cards, birth certificates and passports at the event that marked the completion of the registration process for all members of the community
The move finally affords the Pemba full access to public services like schools, healthcare, social security and the right to work which they have long been denied.
The community settled in Kenya about a century ago but were never recognised at independence in 1963.
It is believed they originally came from the island of Pemba in the Zanzibar Archipelago off mainland Tanzania.
