Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced the immediate scrapping of authentication fees for a birth certificate when applying for Identity cards and passports.
Addressing stakeholders in Homa Bay County on Tuesday afternoon, he said the removal of the authentication fees would eliminate unnecessary financial barriers, which, according to him, was in line with the government's vision to simplify ID access.
"Effective today, the civil registration services will no longer charge any authentication fees for a birth certificate when applying for ID and passports. This step removes unnecessary financial barriers and aligns with our vision to simplify ID access," Murkomen declared.
The CS also announced the government's intention to remove fees charged on birth and death certificate applications to ensure that every Kenyan has access to these documents, regardless of income and location.
To further enhance easy access to IDs, the CS disclosed that the government was in the process of reviewing the ID replacement cost to lower the amount from the current Ksh1,050.
During the meeting, Murkomen further revealed that the government was implementing a policy review to recognise and document small and unrecognised communities.
"We are also implementing a policy review to recognise and document small and unrecognised communities that still face systemic challenges in securing documentation. Every Kenyan counts, and every Kenyan must be counted," the CS affirmed.
Murkomen further announced the Interior Ministry's plan to introduce a user-friendly digital system to allow Kenyans to initiate and track their ID applications online.
According to the Interior CS, the new system will allow Kenyans to access real-time information on the process and status of their ID applications.
"We want to ensure that there is a seamless citizen-centric approach to the identity services," Murkomen stated, adding that plans were underway to construct more civil registration offices across Kenya.
While giving the directives, Murkomen called on Kenyans who were yet to apply for or collect their processed ID cards to do so soon in order to participate in the next general elections scheduled for August 2027.
He also went ahead to take a swipe at some politicians who he accused of reportedly attempting to water down the government's recent decision to remove ID vetting in North-Eastern counties.
