TORONTO - A Toronto woman stranded in Kenya because her lips did not match her passport photo has been given time to prove her identity with DNA tests after a Nairobi court postponed her trail Friday.
Somali-born Suaad Hagi Mohamud has been stuck in the Kenyan capital for more than two months waiting for Canada to acknowledge her citizenship so she can return to her son in Toronto.
"They will find out exactly who I am," she said. "I don't know why I deserve this."
Speaking from her hotel room in Nairobi, Mohamud said she felt some relief Canada had asked the courts to give her more time.
Canadian officials from the High Commission in Kenya have told Mohamud her DNA will be tested Monday. They volunteered no other information on the government's stance on her case. And were unavailable for comment on Friday.
Mohamud's DNA sample will take three days to arrive in Canada where it will be compared to DNA taken from her ex-husband and her son in Toronto.
The government is footing the $800 bill for the process which should be completed within 10 days.
Thirty-one-year-old Mohamud spent a month visiting her mother in Kenya and was on her way back to Canada when an officer stopped her at Nairobi airport May 21 saying she did not look like her four-year-old passport photo.
In contention, was the size of her lips.
After spending eight days in jail she was released on bail with no travel documents.
Canadian consular officials said she is an "impostor," voided her passport and sent it to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.
Her Canadian lawyer Raoul Boulakia said he was relieved the trial is postponed until October and hopes his client will be home before then.
Mohamud is charged with using another person's passport and being in Kenya illegally. If found guilty, she could be imprisoned or deported to her lawless native Somalia.
Although Canada asked for a delay in the criminal proceedings, Boulakia said the government's position that Mohamud is not who she says she is remains unchanged.
"I assume they're not intending to admit anything until they get the DNA result," he said.
Boulakia said he assumed the Kenyan court would be willing to dismiss Mohamud's charges if Canada withdraws its imposter accusations.
The entire situation is troubling, said Boulakia.
"I hope it's uncommon that a Canadian embassy would specifically argue against a person who is a Canadian citizen and deny her citizenship," he said.
A Kenyan investigation report said Mohamud's face had similar features to the photo in her passport but upon closer examination, the lips in the picture differed from those of the passenger.
"I was astonished that it was such a thin pretext," said Boulakia. "It seems like the Kenyan investigator was really stretching to give it some credence."
Mohamud has been staying in a cheap hotel in a low-income area of the city where crime rates are high and police roam the streets looking for thugs to nab.
Mohamud said she can't afford better accommodation and spends most of her time indoors because she worries about her safety.
Without Internet access, Mohamud said she finds it hard to keep in touch with her Canadian lawyer and her family.
Her 12-year-old son has been living with a good friend, but often asks when his mother will return.
For Mohamud, being away from her son has been the hardest part of her detention in Kenya.
"The only thing I want just now is just to be with my boy," she said in a shaky voice.
The Canadian Border Services Agency refused to discuss any developments in Mohamud's case.
"All can tell you is this case is before the courts we cannot comment," said spokeswoman Patrizia Giolti.
