Tana River Governor Godhana Dhadho has raised concerns about the alleged illegal issuance of Kenyan national identity cards to Somali nationals from Somalia following the scrapping of the vetting process by President William Ruto.
“Here in Tana River, there is a flow of not only Somalis from Wajir and Garissa that are conflicting us, but there is a flow of Somalis from Somalia,” the governor said.
He claimed that when these foreigners arrive in Tana River, they are quickly assimilated into local communities and suspiciously issued with national IDs.
“When they reach here in Tana River, I have not seen elsewhere, I don’t know the trick they use. They are given location there and then from the people of Tana River. After a short time, they are given chief and that chief is hurried on matters of ID,” he said.
According to Governor Godhana, some of the individuals issued with IDs are even appointed as local chiefs, despite being foreigners.
He claimed these chiefs originate from Somalia and play a key role in facilitating entry and documentation for others.
“This person will go back and make plans for other people in Somalia,” he said.
He warned that the situation is fuelling insecurity and land conflicts in the region and called for urgent action. He demanded a crackdown on fake chiefs and the revocation of fraudulently issued IDs.
“Those found should be taken to refugee camps,” the governor added.
Vetting had been introduced as a key security requirement for issuing identity cards and birth certificates in northern Kenya, particularly after the Shifta insurgency of the 1960s. The Shifta war was a secessionist conflict in which ethnic Somalis and Muslim Borana attempted to join Somalia.
The recent move by President Ruto to abolish vetting is seen by some political analysts as part of a broader strategy to strengthen his support base in the northeastern region, which has traditionally leaned towards the opposition.
In the 2022 General Election, 882,000 voters from Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, and Marsabit counties participated in the presidential vote. However, residents from these counties have long complained that their numbers were underrepresented in the 2019 national census.
The High Court in Garissa nullified the 2019 census results for Wajir, Mandera, and Garissa counties, citing major discrepancies. The court has ordered a fresh population count in the affected areas.
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