The Immigration Department on Thursday announced the decision to revoke mandatory mass registration of digital identity cards following a public uproar.
Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok disclosed that the registration would be voluntary as the government planned to bank on the new digital features of the IDs to drive uptake.
The PS in his announcement, clarified that the second-generation identity cards which are currently used by a majority of Kenyans remained a valid registration document.
Bitok's latest announcement comes hardly a fortnight after a High Court in Nairobi reviewed initial orders that barred the rollout of the Maisha Cards.
In its ruling, the court revealed that the suspension had caused adverse effects on a majority of Kenyans and disrupted the provision of key services.
"Given the foregoing findings, I allow the 2nd Respondent and Applicant’s Application (the Interior Cabinet Secretary) to review and set aside the conservatory order of July 25, 2024," the court ruled.
"Further, given the findings, I find no juridical significance that is left in the Petitioner/Respondent’s application of July 23, 2024 hence it is struck out together with the ensuant directions issued thereto."
Similarly, Bitok's directive comes a day after the National Registration Bureau (NRB) called on Kenyans to pick up over 400,000 uncollected ID cards.
PS Bitok revealed that the immigration department had cleared the backlog after it printed 505,197 ID cards. According to the PS, the printing was done within two weeks.
According to the PS, Nairobi had the highest number of uncollected IDs followed by Kiambu and Nakuru Counties.
Other counties with significant numbers of uncollected ID cards included Mombasa, Kisii, Murang’a, Uasin Gishu, Kajiado, and Bungoma.
“We urge applicants who have yet to collect their cards to visit the station where they submitted their application as soon as possible,” Bitok reiterated.
