Birthright auction: How foreigners obtain Kenyan IDs, passports at only Sh15,000

Kenya could be staring at one of the most serious national security threats in recent history as foreigners obtain Kenyan identity cards and passports through rogue networks operating both in and out of the government.

For weeks, The Standard infiltrated the dangerous networks and uncovered how rogue officials within the Immigration Department and the National Registration Bureau facilitate this dubious syndicate, allowing nationals from countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi and Uganda to acquire Kenyan identity documents without proper vetting, scrutiny or verification, driven by bribery and corruption.

The collapse within the country’s citizenship and immigration control systems, investigators now say, could carry devastating consequences for national security and the integrity of next year’s General Election. 

The disturbing revelations come hot on the heels of February’s US exposé on Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa, a senior commander in Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who acquired a Kenyan passport (No. AK1586127) through the back door, sparking nationwide outrage. 

And yet, despite the commission of an act of such enormous national security significance, months later, the country remains in the dark about how a man linked to atrocities and the killing of thousands of civilians in Sudan could casually acquire Kenya’s sacred travel document with such ease and impunity.

To date, the men and women who ought to bear the greatest responsibility remain firmly in office, continuing to serve under President William Ruto’s administration. 

Immigration Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has repeatedly denied any RSF-linked connections to Kenya. Immigration Director General Evelyn Cheluget has remained defiant, as has former Immigration (now in Tourism docket) Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, under whose tenure insiders claim the foundations of the alleged passport scandals were laid. 

The Algoney passport scandal, however, appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.  

The Standard reviewed identity cards and passports for foreign nationals holding Kenyan citizenship under questionable circumstances. 

Take the case of Said Abdirahim Mohamed, a Somali national who currently holds a valid Kenyan ID and passport. His original Somali passport shows he was born in Mogadishu on June 26, 1993. He crossed the border into Kenya and acquired a valid Kenyan identity card issued on May 16, 2022. The Kenyan ID says he was born in Rhamu, Mandera county, listing his date of birth as January 1, 1999. Using the Kenyan ID, he later acquired a Kenyan passport issued on April 11, 2024.

One man with two distinct identities. 

Another Somali national, Hassan Mohamed Nur, whose official Somali records indicate he was born on December 14, 1985, in Mogadishu, Somalia. To acquire a new nationality, he only needed to cross the border into Kenya, in Wajir, he acquired an official Kenyan ID. But the details on the Somali passport stand in stark contrast. He gets a new date of birth captured as July 1, 1985, and his new birthplace as Tarbaj, Wajir. Again, key personal details differ. 

Just how did the Kenyan system itself fail to detect or prevent men with an existing foreign identity from acquiring citizenship documents under different details?

Investigators also traced the case of 29-year-old Abdihrahman Ali Mahad, a Somali national born in Mogadishu. Records show Mahad acquired a Somali passport on May 31, 2021. His date of birth is listed as January 1, 1997.

Corrupt networks

But while still in Somalia, rogue Immigration officials were allegedly already processing Kenyan documents for him to facilitate his smooth entry into Kenya through the Wajir border. 

His Kenyan identity card No. 40913407 is recorded as having been issued on March 31, 2022, with his district of birth listed as Tarbaj, Wajir. His date of birth on the Kenyan ID differs from that on his Somali passport and is instead recorded as July 1, 2002. 

“The discrepancies are not errors but are made by design simply to defeat detection systems,” explains a registration official who cannot be named for security concerns. 

For Somali nationals seeking to travel to countries with tighter immigration restrictions, investigators say the Kenyan connection has become a near-perfect workaround, especially when armed with a Kenyan passport. 

“While some come to find a new home in Kenya, a good number of them are people in transit. They know that they may never travel abroad with their passports, so they rely on Kenyan citizenship to achieve this,” explains an insider at the Immigration Department.

Opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka has recently alleged that Somali truck drivers are among foreign nationals irregularly obtaining Kenyan identity cards through corrupt networks. 

Kenya permits dual citizenship, provided applicants formally declare their other nationality when acquiring or resuming Kenyan citizenship. However, dual citizenship does not override immigration or security laws, and each passport must be lawfully obtained under the rules of the respective country. 

“For those who properly come to Kenya using official channels and meet legal requirements, they can get Kenyan citizenship. However, it should not entail forging dates and places of birth to cheat the system and allow non-citizens to fraudulently obtain Kenyan identity documents outside the law,” explains an official. 

The Standard’s Investigations Unit reached out to the State Department in charge of Immigration, the Directorate of Immigration Services and the National Registration Bureau, seeking responses to the allegations raised in this investigation, but they had not responded by the time of publication. 

At the bustling Kiamaiko goat market in Nairobi’s Eastlands, we encountered scores of Ethiopian nationals working as casual labourers. Some tell us they have successfully obtained Kenyan national identity cards, while many others say they are still trying to secure the documents. 

In one of the market’s busy backstreets, we met an Ethiopian national who was willing to speak to us about his experience. “Everyone you see on this street is likely to be Ethiopian. I have a Kenyan ID. I bought mine in Marsabit for only Sh15,000,”  he admits on camera.

As of early 2026, Somali nationals face significant US immigration restrictions following a federal policy that limited visa issuance for citizens of several countries, including Somalia, under a national security directive that took effect on January 1, 2026. 

“Clearly, this is a dangerous commercialisation of Kenya’s most sacred sovereign documents. We are staring at a crisis of our own making, one that may take years to clean up, or one we may never fully recover from,” says Erick Okeyo, a governance and security analyst. 

A senior officer at NRB stated bluntly: “It pains me to see what’s happening. Sometimes I wish I could do something to protect my country. That is why I am speaking out and calling everyone to attention.”

In January 2024, Kenya officially abolished traditional visa requirements for foreign travellers and replaced them with the Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) system as part of President Ruto’s visa-free travel policy. 

The government said the move was aimed at boosting tourism, investment and ease of travel into the country. 

Then, in February 2025, Ruto abolished the decades-old vetting process previously required for Kenyan Somalis and residents of border counties seeking national identity cards. He defended the move as necessary to end discrimination and unequal treatment in the issuance of IDs.

But insiders within security agencies claim repeated warnings about the risks of dismantling the multi-agency vetting framework were ignored. 

“From the word go, this was ill-informed. You cannot take such decisions for political expediency; We are exposing ourselves to danger which will haunt this country for generations,” observes Okeyo. 

Previously, the vetting process involved local chiefs, village elders, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers, NIS personnel, and registration officials jointly scrutinising applicants before IDs were approved.

“This is now turning into a serious national security threat,” said Hussein Khalid, a rights activist attached to Vocal Africa.

Sources familiar with the syndicate say, with the help of brokers, some ID cards are processed inside Kenya and physically delivered across the border, allowing recipients to enter the country posing as Kenyan citizens.

And the concern is no longer limited to Northern Kenya. 

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has also raised alarm over the alleged issuance of IDs to foreigners along the Kenya–Uganda border, linking the matter to the upcoming General Election. 

“We know it’s part of a scheme to have foreigners cross the border so that they come and elect leaders for us, but that will not happen at all costs,” Natembeya said. “Our people will not accept that nonsense.”

The claims have, however, been strongly denied by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which challenged the governor to provide evidence to substantiate the allegations. 

Investigators have also uncovered the existence of what insiders describe as “parents for hire”  - Kenyan citizens of Somali origin who allegedly rent out their identity documents to facilitate the fraudulent processing of Kenyan IDs for foreigners. 

Under Kenya’s first-time national ID registration process, applicants are typically required to provide copies of either their mother’s or father’s Kenyan identity card as proof of citizenship. 

Sources within the registration system say brokers have exploited this requirement by recruiting individuals willing to falsely pose as parents for a fee. 

“Our database would shock you. There is one man with more than 100 people appearing under his name as his children,” said a source familiar with the investigations. “These are people well known to brokers and are paid to stand in as parents. Depending on the deal, they can earn between Sh20,000 and Sh100,000.”

Once in the country, the migrants reportedly settle in areas such as Eastleigh, South C, Nairobi West, Pangani, and parts of Nairobi’s central business district, while others allegedly use Kenya as a transit route to destinations including the United States, South Africa, Libya, and Egypt. 

Kenya shares a long and often difficult border with Somalia, a country that continues to battle extremist violence. 

History provides painful reminders of what can happen when identity systems are compromised. From the 1998 US Embassy bombing to the Dusit attack, terror investigations have repeatedly shown the role that fraudulent documentation can play in helping dangerous individuals evade detection.

For years, Western nations, including the US, have maintained heightened travel restrictions and security scrutiny on Somali nationals over terrorism concerns.

In the United States, immigration policy debates have increasingly centred on the Somali diaspora, particularly in Minnesota, home to one of the largest Somali communities in America. President Donald Trump has repeatedly raised concerns about Somali immigration, alleging links between segments of the community and fraud cases, while also calling for tougher enforcement and, at times, broader restrictions on Somali migrants.

Security experts now fear Kenya’s documentation system could increasingly become an alternative route for individuals seeking to bypass international scrutiny. 

“We urgently need a full audit of all documents issued after the lifting of vetting. If irregularities are found, the government must move quickly to revoke those documents,” said Khalid.

Okeyo has warned of potential international consequences. “We are slowly getting ourselves profiled globally as a corrupt nation with weak governance structures. A warlord casually getting a Kenyan passport should worry everyone. Casually handing out Kenyan passports in this manner completely undermines the sovereignty and credibility of our country.” 

With Kenya heading toward another General Election, some political observers now fear the scandal could evolve beyond corruption and immigration fraud into the manipulation of voter demographics. 

Under Kenya’s electoral system, a national identity card is the primary document required for voter registration, meaning anyone who unlawfully acquires a Kenyan ID can potentially access a voter’s card and participate in the country’s electoral process.