President William Ruto on Monday evening announced that he would Gazette the Nubian community as a new tribe in Kenya on December 2024.
The President speaking during the Iftar Dinner held at State House, Nairobi, remarked that the recognition exercise was long overdue.
Lack of proper recognition of the community has led to frustrations when accessing key government documents.
“It is true the Nubian community has not been gazetted as a tribe in Kenya but at the moment if they go to get an Identity Card they are already identified as a community in the National IDs,” Ruto remarked.
“I think it's good to complete that process by being gazetted formally in accordance with the law as a tribe within the Republic of Kenya.”
While the Nubian community with a population of over 100,000 can get national IDs, it is an arduous process as they must be vetted.
The vetting process is conducted by a local grassroots committee which is mandated to determine whether the person is truly a Kenyan citizen by birth and if he truly belongs to the Nubian community.
Once satisfied, the committee submits their recommendations to immigration offices at the Nyayo House enabling the person to acquire an identity card.
Ruto remarked that while he understood their struggles, the process of gazettement would take some time.
“It will be my work from December this year (to ensure gazettement) because it must be taken through a parliamentary process,” he explained the delay.
Additionally, President William Ruto remarked that as of May 2024, Kenyans would not be vetted when applying for ID cards.
"We have now completed the policy document and from the beginning of May this year, there will no longer be vetting for people who want to get IDs,” he revealed after Muslim leaders complained that the process was discriminatory.
