Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu has called on the Senate to investigate persistent delays in the issuance and collection of national identity cards across the country.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Nyutu urged the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations to establish the causes of the backlog and outline measures being taken to address it.
He also asked the committee, chaired by Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo, to provide the total number of uncollected IDs currently held at Huduma Centres and National Registration Bureau (NRB) offices.
“The Ministry must also explore more convenient collection methods to ensure services are accessible to all Kenyans,” Nyutu said, adding that the issue was hampering the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise.
His remarks came days after President William Ruto waived the Ksh1,000 ID replacement fee to support voter registration, ensuring no eligible Kenyan is locked out for lacking an ID.
Nyutu further urged the Senate to examine whether the Ministry of Interior is collaborating with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to prevent voter disenfranchisement.
Meanwhile, Parliament recently approved the publication of the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill, which proposes that all Form Four students aged 18 and above be issued national ID cards before leaving school.
The Bill also seeks to automatically register all Kenyans aged 18 and above as voters under the IEBC database.
Nyutu wants clear timelines from the Ministry on when the challenges in ID issuance and collection will be fully resolved.
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