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Murkomen deploys Mobile Live Capture Unit to speed up issuance of IDs
He says machine captures data of ID applicants and transmits it electronically for processing, after which applicants receive their cards in three days
The government has introduced a Mobile Live Capture Unit, a portable battery-powered machine, to speed up Identity Card registration in marginalised areas.
Noting that IDs are crucial in facilitating access to crucial services and sources of livelihoods, such as employment, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the machines, which are currently being piloted, will reduce the number of days it takes to get the document to three.
“The machine captures data of ID applicants and transmits it electronically for processing, after which applicants receive their cards in three days,” he said, adding that the aim is to bring marginalised areas to be at par with the rest of the country.
Speaking in West Pokot, Murkomen said the government has put in place enough safeguards to ensure only the rightful applicants are registered after we removed the discriminatory extra vetting requirement for border counties.
In February, President William Ruto signed a decree ending years of State discrimination in the issuance of the vital documents.
While signing the Presidential Proclamation on Registration and Issuance of IDs to Border Counties, President Ruto, who was on a tour of Wajir, termed the practice unjust and disenfranchising.
“If it’s about vetting, let all children of Kenya be vetted equally without any discrimination,” he said.
For years, residents of North Eastern endured extra-vetting and ethnic profiling by the State before they acquire birth certificates and national identity cards.
“We want the people of Northern Kenya to feel equal to the rest of the country,” the President said.
In March, Murkomen also removed the Sh300 fee that was imposed on those seeking new IDs following a directive by Ruto.
“The sixth schedule to the Registration of Persons Rules is amended by deleting the expression “KSh 300” appearing as fees for the item “Not Previously Registered (NPR)” and substituting thereof the expression “Nil”,” he said in a Kenya Gazette notice.
Ruto had issued the directive following calls by youths in Kibra during his tour of Nairobi.
“I have said that the bias in the issuance of IDs should be removed. All citizens should be given IDs. I also want to announce here in Kibra that IDs should be issued without any charges and any bias,” Ruto said.
