Game of numbers: Opposition, State clash over ID cards issuance

As next year’s General Election draws closer, President William Ruto’s administration finds itself under immense scrutiny over its handling of the national identity cards issuance, amid allegations of manipulation.

The Immigration Principal Secretary, Belio Kipsang, has admitted that it is worrying that a high number of ID cards remain uncollected across the country, even as he denied claims of skewed issuance of the document.

While the government has maintained that its aggressive push for ID issuance was a long-overdue reform aimed at tackling the systemic discrimination of minority communities, the Opposition has held that it was a strategic move aimed at manipulating the voter register with the intent of securing President Ruto a second term, sentiments backed by political analysts and governance stakeholders.

And as the voter registration exercise by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) comes to a close next week, the final register is expected to become a point of conflict for parties across the political divide if issues raised by various stakeholders are not addressed. 

According to the Immigration PS, 400,000 national IDs have not been collected across the country. Most of these IDs are believed to belong to first-time applicants — the Gen Z — who comprise the biggest chunk of the 2.5 million new voters targeted in the ongoing enhanced continuous voter registration that is closing on Tuesday next week.  

Politically being viewed as a game of cards, anti-government critics are of the view that the government is using the ID issue to manipulate the outcome of next year’s polls.

The game of cards is one that would deny the Opposition’s strongholds any advantage to gain voter strengths and vice versa, and at the same time suppress the Gen Z revolution, one widely agitating for change in the political scene, thanks to a barrage of concerns that have seen them pull anti-government protests since June 2024.      

The crux of the matter revolves around the President’s decree that scrapped the 60-year-old vetting requirement for ID applicants in border regions.

The Head of State claimed that the development would end ethnic discrimination, but critics such as Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka have accused him of employing the move as part of a wider ploy to “import” voters from neighbouring countries to bolster his re-election bid. 

“They (government) think that if they issue IDs here and there to acquire a new voting bloc, but I want to assure them that those who are going to be issued with IDs will be the first ones to vote Ruto out. There is no place to hide,” said Kalonzo on February 9 this year.

But in response, Ruto denied the claims and defended it as serving a people who have long been unable to access government services.

Compounding the government's woes, however, are claims that it has engineered “deliberate” delays in ID processing in Opposition strongholds. Critics argue that it is strategically stalling the registration of young voters in a bid to lock them out of the looming General Election.

This, coupled by Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula’s controversial announcement to involve the MPs in the distribution of the identity cards, has further exacerbated the situation, with stakeholders such as the civil rights groups questioning why politicians who are active players in the electoral cycle are being involved in the process.

MPs have also joined the fray, accusing the National Registration Bureau of delays, which they maintain have blocked many Gen Z who have expressed interests to participate in the electoral process from being enrolled as voters in the enhanced continuous voter registration, which lapses on Tuesday, April 28.

Anti-government critics claim the delays in issuing the identity cards coincide with the deadline for the enhanced voter registration, since when the window closes, those aspiring to be registered will have to go all the way to the commission’s offices, which are located in far-flung constituency areas, which would require bus fare, which has been increased owing to fuel hikes.

The Opposition further claims that non-citizens from the neighbouring countries are being registered to participate in the next elections and failure by the relevant government agencies has led to credibility concerns about the 2027 polls.

Led by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi, the Opposition claims there has been a systematic and discriminatory issuance of national ID cards designed to favour President Ruto in the upcoming polls as well as fraudulent issuance of IDs to non-citizens.

Gachagua claimed that Ruto and his people, sensing electoral defeat, have implemented a selective issuance of IDs, adding that communities supporting the President receive their IDs within two to three days, with local chiefs even delivering the documents directly to young people’s homes.

Gachagua stated that young people in areas perceived to be against the administration are facing delays of three to four months for their IDs to be processed.

“As we go towards the General Election, William Ruto and his people, sensing defeat, have decided to have selective issuance of IDs. Areas perceived to be against William Ruto are being denied IDs. In Nakuru, communities that support William Ruto are being issued IDs within two or three days, and chiefs from those communities are collecting the IDs and taking them home to the young people. Communities perceived to be against William Ruto wait for between three to four months for their IDs to be processed,” Gachagua stated. He added, “We want to call on Ruto and the government to stop the selective issuance of IDs. They should stop discrimination; all Kenyan children deserve IDs, whether they support or oppose William Ruto. And we are putting the registrar of persons on notice, if this discrimination does not stop, we shall request our young people, the Gen Zs, to occupy the registration centres, the Huduma centres, and your offices.”

On his part, Muturi raised alarm over what he termed a worrying trend of fraudulent issuance of national identity cards.

He claimed that there are growing risks that identity documents could be issued to individuals outside Kenya’s borders and later used to influence elections, saying the electoral process required stricter controls on voter identification.

The former Attorney-General said Kenya’s democracy risks being reduced to what he described as a “marketplace” where votes are allegedly bought, transported across regions, and traded for political advantage.

“Further, we are now witnessing a worrying trend where Kenyan national identity cards are allegedly being issued to criminals and individuals from outside our borders. This raises a grave risk that such documents could be used to interfere with our elections,” he stated. 

He added, “For this reason, voting must be made strictly exclusive to the voter’s card. National IDs alone should not be sufficient for voting. I therefore call upon the IEBC to urgently restore the use of the voter’s card as the mandatory and exclusive document for voting.”

Taking to the floor of the National Assembly to decry the delay of IDS, the MPs said their potential electorate had waited more than six months to get the much-needed documents, which would also assist them in unlocking employment opportunities.

Mandera South MP Abdul Haro painted a grim picture of delays in North Eastern Kenya, warning that the situation risks disenfranchising thousands of eligible youth. 

 “This delay raises serious concerns regarding equitable access to government services. With the ongoing voter registration exercise by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, these delays risk disenfranchising eligible youth and undermining their constitutional right to vote.”

Kajiado North MP Onesmus Ngogoyo called for urgent intervention to align ID issuance with the ongoing voter registration exercise.

 “Can we have a government policy requiring those who have not received their IDs to be called to pick them up within the next week so they can register as voters?” he said. 

 It is Wetangula’s directive to incorporate MPs’ staff to distribute IDs that has sparked a nationwide debate with concerns being raised as to why the third parties would be involved in sensitive documents.

 Wetangula reminded MPs that Parliament facilitates staff in their constituency offices who can be deployed to bridge the gap between issuance and collection of the critical documents.

 “As the Parliamentary Service Commission, I employ staff for you in your field offices. You have a duty to use the staff we pay to assist in delivering those IDs to your constituents. We cry that there are no IDs, yet when they are issued, no one picks them up. They are piled up in the offices of assistant county commissioners and chiefs,” said Wetang’ula.

He urged legislators to leverage their offices to identify applicants whose IDs are ready and ensure they are delivered promptly, noting that the same personnel are already used effectively in public participation.

Racheal Omollo, a public policy and governance expert, criticised Wetangula’s directive, maintaining that the MPs’ job description was well cut out in the Constitution.

“It is not the MPs’ jurisdiction to dish out IDs to the people; this looks like a favour. Allowing MPs to distribute IDs gives them an edge over other competitors. We have administrative structures - chiefs, assistant chiefs, and village elders - to handle the distribution of IDs. Where is the impartiality and transparency in this process, and are other stakeholders involved?” Omollo said.

She said the directive raised a sinister motive and risked eroding the transparency of next year’s polls.

Ikua Mbote, a political analyst, observed that it was also a duty of Kenyans to collect their identity cards from the registrar of Kenyans as opposed to being given the documents at their doorstep.

“Why would MPs bring IDs to your doorstep, and why haven’t you picked up your ID? What is your responsibility as a Kenyan citizen to ensure good governance? Additionally, the registration of new IDs has been a major challenge. So, how will people vote without an ID,” he said.

Analysts and civil rights groups maintain that the government is to blame for the uncollected IDs, an issue that could be blamed for the dismal registration of new voters, strategically so to lock out the Gen Zs who have been agitating for political change through the ‘Wantam’ slogan.  

Peter Mbae, a Nakuru-based politician and former MCA say in the past, the government had directed the National Government Administration Officers who include the chiefs and the assistant chiefs, to distribute IDs to the applicants. “This happened to the pro-government zones and we experienced it, voter suppression was rife in anti-government areas, but this was and remains illegal. The government should play its civic duty to facilitate access to IDs as opposed to blocking the move,” Mbae said.

According to Dr Mbae, some regions, perceived to support Ruto’s re-election government had deployed automatic ID registration machines, which had seen applicants get IDs in three days. “Government fears that 99 per cent of applicants are Gen-Z who are determined to vote them out,” Mbae said.

Kamau Ngugi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Defenders Coalition, an umbrella body of the human rights groups in the country, said they were concerned about the skewed identity issuance in the country. He said the Defenders Coalition had deployed human rights groups to document the alleged unfair distribution of the IDs.

“It is the right of every Kenyan to acquire IDs for access to other government services. We are closely documenting these cases for the purposes of petitioning the matter in our courts of law,” Ngugi said.

He said allegations that some non-Kenyans were being issued with IDs to tilt the voting scale in some regions was a worrying claim and would be a betrayal to Kenyans who toil and moil to pay taxes, saying that enlisting non-Kenyans, it meant that they were eligible to enjoy government services, beyond the perceived political outcome.

 “We strongly advocate for inter- agency coordination between the IEBC, the National Police Service and the Immigration department to ensure that only Kenyans are enlisted as identity cards,” he said.