The Director General of eCitizen Services, Isaac Ochieng, has announced the government's plan to roll out digital notifications for Kenyans whose National Identification cards are ready for collection.
Speaking on Thursday morning during an interview on Radio Generation, Ochieng revealed that once a person attains the age of 18 years, a brief notification would be sent to the parents' phone informing them that their child's ID is ready for collection.
He assured Kenyans that the process would be seamless since the government already has the details of the applicant's parents, including their phone numbers.
"Where we are now, if you attain the age of 18, we will notify your parents on their phone because we have their details. We will tell them that the national ID for your son or daughter is ready for collection," said the eCitizen boss.
"The ID owner will also get a notification that they are automatically registered as a voter," he added.
During the interview, the eCitizen Director-General also announced plans to unveil the automatic linkage of citizens’ IDs to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) register.
According to him, once an individual turns 18, they will automatically be registered as a voter, making them eligible to participate in elections.
The move marks a paradigm shift from the manual registration process previously used by the electoral body, which required individuals to visit a voter registration centre.
"The ID owner will also get a notification that they are automatically registered as a voter. Can you now notify us where you would like to vote? That is where you will be assigned," Ochieng' stated.
"There will be no manual voter registration. Everything will be automatic. However, the voter register will be maintained by IEBC," the eCitizen boss reiterated.
The latest pronouncement comes a fortnight after the government revealed that Kenyans would henceforth receive their IDs within three to seven days of application following the acquisition of modern machines.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen disclosed that the government has acquired new mobile live capture units, portable, battery-powered machines designed to capture an applicant's data more quickly.
Speaking in Uasin Gishu on August 5, Murkomen said that the captured data would be submitted electronically for processing, reducing the number of days required to produce an ID.
