The Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations has been asked to look into the delays in issuing and collecting IDs and provide answers.
Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu urged the Committee to investigate the reasons behind the delays and the measures in place to speed up the process.
The Committee was also asked to provide the number of uncollected national identity cards currently held by Huduma Centres and the National Registration Bureau (NRB) offices across the country, and to outline plans to clear the backlog.
The committee, chaired by Senator Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo), was also tasked with finding out whether the Ministry of Interior and National Administration was considering introducing more convenient collection methods to make services more accessible and simplify the collection process.
Nyutu also needed to know the impact of the delays on the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise and establish whether the Ministry is working with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to mitigate the risk of voter disenfranchisement.
ID Replacement Fee Waiver
His request came just days after President William Ruto waived the ID replacement fee to aid in the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
His directive meant that citizens would no longer pay to replace lost or damaged national ID cards until after the 2027 General Election.
Ruto issued the new orders while speaking during the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) centenary celebrations, noting that the Ksh1,000 replacement fee was too high, particularly during the tough economic times.
“We will ensure that no one will be prevented from registering as a voter because of lacking an ID. For now, until after the 2027 elections, replacement of IDs will be free,” the President said.
Another measure taken to aid the issuance of IDs was Parliament’s recent approval for the publication of the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill, paving the way for major changes in how national identity cards and voter registration are conducted in Kenya.
In the Bill, form four students will now be able to register for national identification cards, provided they reach the legal registration age of 18 years.
The Bill will make it mandatory for all form four students who have attained the legal age of 18 to be issued with national identification cards before leaving school.
Additionally, Kenyans who will have attained the age of 18 and above will be automatically registered as voters under the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) database.
Even so, the legislator wanted the Committee to address the timelines within which the Ministry expects to fully resolve the challenges relating to the issuance and collection of national identity cards.
