THE government has scrapped ministry of Immigration and Registration fees for new national identity cards to assist people participate in the forthcoming general elections. ID cards for fresh applicants and those seeking to replace the first generation ID cards will be issued free of charge. Only those who have lost IDs will be required to pay Sh300 for a replacement.
The announcement comes barely a week after MPs allied to the G7 opposed the charges which they termed as unfair to the poor. Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang' told parliament in May last year that charging Sh300 was designed to encourage ID card holders to be more careful in handling the document.
But speaking at a prayer rally in Malindi last weekend, the two ICC suspects Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto asked youths not to pay the fee promising to table the matter in parliament when it resumes. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka announced yesterday the government had taken the measures to expedite the process after it learned that millions of youths are yet to acquire IDS to transact day to day business.
The ministry of Finance has set aside Sh400 million through the supplementary budget in the 2011/2012 financial year to facilitate the process. A further Sh948 million will be provided in the next financial year 2012/13 to buy IDs materials and issuance. Musyoka added that it will not be mandatory for married women to produce affidavits in order to be registered.
He said women will only be required to present introduction letters from their chiefs to authenticate proof of their marriage. “It costs anything upwards of Sh1,000 to get an affidavit from a lawyer. This charge is punitive to many Kenyans in rural areas. We think the chief and their assistants have the capacity to know such couples,” Musyoka said. The VP also announced that registration for Kenyans in the diaspora has been launched in London and Washington, DC.
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