Kenyans in border counties to receive IDs in 3 weeks, CS Kindiki directs

Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki now wants the Registrar of Persons to fast-track the vetting and issuance of identification cards for those in border towns.

Prof. Kindiki says the IDs should be processed and issuesd to applicants in less that 21 days after approval by the vetting panel.

The Interior CS, who made a security visit to Moyale area of Marsabit County on the final day of his two-day trip to Northern Kenya, also vowed to combat the drug and human trafficking menace that has for long been perpetrated by cartels along the Kenya - Ethiopia border.

The area community and elected leaders present decried the delay in issuance of identification cards to youth whom they said some times have to wait for years on end.

Kindiki said the long wait that has bedevilled residents of North Eastern, parts of Western and Coastal Kenya must now come to an end.

“It is unfair that some of our young people take three years to access citizenship yet other people in other areas take 2 weeks,” he said.

The CS hence directed vetting committees within the Registrar of Persons department to fast-track the process of veting and approval within 21 days.

“The National Registration Bureau to work hard and ensure the time taken to vet is 14 days and a maximum of one week to issue the document,” he stated.

With the drug and human trafficking problem still alive and perpetrators using Moyale as the main entry point to the country, the CS said that he will reorganise the security of the area to focus more on the transnational crime.

“We will enhance our border patrol and seal all the loopholes so that those fromEthiopia who want to come to Kenya can only do so through the right channel,” said Kindiki.

The CS promised to deploy more security officers in Marsabit County to combat cattle rustlers and high way robbers who have taken the lives of many residents.

He further directed that in the next seven days, more officers from the customs and immigration agencies will be deployed at the Moyale one stop border point to improve the turn around time.

“It used to take 6 hours to clear here, after the contraction it takes two hours but with more officers it will even take 1 hour for clearance to be done,” he stated.

The Interior boss said that the full operationalisation of the border point will go a long way in sealing the many illegal routes used by unscrupulous businessmen to evade taxes.