Radio Fortune Africa -Ukweli na Burudani

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By: Cantona Joseph|RFA

File image of uncollected national identity cards.

The government has now gazetted a six-month waiver of the Ksh.1,000 fee for the replacement of Identity Cards and the amendment of particulars.

In a special gazette notice issued on Friday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the waiver is in line with President William Ruto’s directive aimed at ensuring that every Kenyan acquires the document, which is a crucial access point to government services and voter registration. 

“The fees prescribed in the Sixth Schedule in respect of duplicate/replacement and change of particulars shall be nil for six months, with effect from the date of commencement of these rules,” the notice read in part. 

On October 4, 2025, President Ruto announced the waiver, pointing out that the window will remain in effect until after the 2027 elections. 

“We will make sure no one is denied the opportunity to register as a voter because of lacking an identification card,” he said.

The move is part of the government’s plan to register at least one million Kenyans in the next 12 months. 

This also involved the acquisition of a modern machine that can print at least 15,000 ID cards daily. 

“Even as the IEBC is carrying out mass registration of voters, this is the time to get your ID in record time. We are also not just registering Kenyans but also aliens in Kenya, refugees, so that they can access services,” Murkomen stated during a tour at the National Registration Bureau in Nairobi on October 4, 2025. 

“We want to appeal to the youth to get your IDs so that you can begin transforming our nation.”

He also revealed that more than 400,000 uncollected IDs remain in registration offices across the country, calling on the public to pick them.

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