Gov’t scraps Ksh300 fee for first-time ID applicants

Kenyans applying for their national identity cards for the first time will no longer be required to pay fees, following a directive by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.

In a gazette notice dated March 19, CS Murkomen announced the removal of the Ksh300 fee for first-time applicants in a bid to ease access to the critical identification document.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 16 of the Registration of Persons Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration makes the following rules – 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 therefor the expression “Nil”,” reads the notice.

The CS also scrapped Ksh500 vetting fee for both IDs and passports.

This follows a directive by President William Ruto, who, while speaking in Kibera last week, ordered that first-time applicants should not be subjected to any fee and would only need to present their birth certificates and their parents’ identification documents.

Speaking during the launch of a nationwide mobile registration drive in Nakuru West Sub-County, Murkomen said the government is committed to ensuring fairness in the issuance of identification documents.

Officers from the National Registration Bureau have been deployed to facilitate the process with successful applicants expected to receive their IDs within 10 days.