The Ministry of Interior on Monday, April 29, announced that chiefs will be responsible for foreigners acquiring identity cards in their areas effective May 1.
In a statement sent to Kenyans.co.ke by the Kithure Kindiki -led Ministry, it was announced that the government had dispensed with the vetting committees that had been in place.
The directive was issued following a meeting between Ministry of Interior officials and chiefs.
Over the years, concerns had been raised about the discriminative process that most foreigners were subjected to, which was blamed for many eventually missing out on identity cards.
Speaking on the new guidelines unveiled, the Principal Secretary, State Department for Internal Security and National Administration, Raymond Omollo, stated that the government would streamline services in border and cosmopolitan counties.
"These guidelines aim to streamline the service, ensuring predictability and efficiency, while emphasising accountability, transparency, and security," stated Omollo.
Following the complaints raised, the Head of State, William Ruto on April 8 during an Iftar dinner with Muslim faithful in Kiambu issued a directive to abolish the vetting system.
Ruto had stated that the government would create a new policy document that would eliminate the vetting process and issue a way forward.
“I’m going to be issuing a policy document to make sure that we have a mechanism that is similar to other Kenyans so that we don’t discriminate based on religion or region," Ruto stated
However, the new system is still expected to retain vigilance to weed out any criminals that could try to take advantage of the abolishment of vetting procedures.
The vetting process was instituted in the 1960s, when communities from the Northern frontier of the country were required to prove their nationality before issuance of IDs and birth certificates.
Critics however poked holes into the system arguing that it created an avenue for ethnic profiling.
