Over 462,000 new IDs uncollected, PS Belio reveals

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More than 462,000 new national identity cards remain uncollected in national registration bureau offices across the country.

The IDs are piling in registration bureaus amid a nationwide voter registration conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said on Thursday that the state department was concerned with the rising number of Kenyans who were not collecting their IDs after issuance.

Kipsang said it was worrying that the thousands of citizens whose IDs are gathering dust in offices were not accessing crucial government services, including Social Health Authority (SHA) registration and access. 

He directed that the uncollected IDs be moved from national registration bureaus to Chiefs' offices, where the local administrators will trace holders of the documents to their villages and homes. 

“We have 462,000 IDs which have not been collected and we are ensuring that Chiefs and their assistants collect IDs which have not been collected,” the PS said during a Chiefs’ sensitisation meeting in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu.

He said at least 15,000 national ID cards, more than 8,000 of them belonging to first-time applicants, have not been collected in Uasin Gishu County alone. 

 “We are aligning these IDs to the sub-locations so that the assistant chiefs can use the village elders to ensure the documents are collected,” Kipsang said.

The PS said Chiefs found to be aiding registration of foreign nationals along the Kenyan borders will be held responsible for illegal issuance of the country’s crucial identification documents.

He warned chiefs and national registration officials not to misuse the cessation of vetting in border counties to register foreigners.