Huduma Kenya on Wednesday explained the reason why some Kenyans will continue to wait longer for their national identification cards.
While responding to concerns from Kenyans, Huduma Kenya revealed that the pending court cases had created a backlog in the system delaying the issuance of ID.
The state agency emphasised that the court case stopping the production of maisha cards was to blame for the delay. Maisha cards were expected to replace the current IDs.
"Due to the court orders stopping maisha card production, it leads to many IDs not being processed causing a delay in ID production," Huduma Kenya stated.
Kenyans complained that they were paying Ksh1,000 to renew their IDs but still waiting longer to get the crucial document.
Some of the applicants revealed that they had applied to replace their IDs in January and were yet to receive them. They added that despite making the payment or visiting Huduma centres, no action had been taken.
On this, Huduma Kenya urged all Kenyans facing similar situations to send their serial number to check the progress. Additionally, Kenyans were urged to be patient as the backlog is cleared.
"We apologise for the delay. We are experiencing a backlog but it is being handled," Huduma Kenya responded.
In February, the High Court lifted orders that previously stopped the rollout of Maisha cards. After the ruling, Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok revealed that the rollout would begin immediately.
"Rest assured, we are fully dedicated to expediting the processing of ID cards and ensuring that all eligible applicants receive their documents without further delay," he stated.
In June, Immigration PS Julius Bitok explained that the government was in the process of phasing out the current IDs with the new generation and chip-enables maisha card.
The new cards will have expiry dates and will only be valid for 10 years. This feature sparked debate among Kenyans with the government emphasising that the cards keep up with the technology.
Once completely rolled out, the cards shall be issued to each Kenyan upon registration often at birth. It will be a lifelong personal identity number.
It will also allow the holder to access government services from various agencies such as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
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