The government l rolled out a nationwide mobile identity registration programme aimed at ending historical marginalisation and easing access to citizenship documents, Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said.
Speaking on Monday during the launch of the Usajili Mashinani Mobile ID Registration and Sensitisation Drive in Kapenguria, West Pokot County, Murkomen said the initiative is designed to eliminate barriers that have long locked out vulnerable communities from accessing national identification documents and government services.
“We are committed to ending historical marginalisation, inequality and exclusion from citizenship rights and government services,” Murkomen said.
“That is why we are taking deliberate steps to remove all obstacles to the registration of national identity cards, passports and birth certificates.”
The exercise will begin in pastoralist regions before being rolled out across all 47 counties.
It will involve a 10-day intensive registration period in targeted areas, bringing services closer to communities that often travel long distances to access registration centres.
To support the programme, the government has deployed 14 motor vehicles dedicated to the exercise, with plans to add eight more to ensure coverage of all wards and facilitate school-based registration. Additionally, 91 portable registration machines have been commissioned to capture applicants’ data in real time, a move expected to significantly reduce ID processing timelines.
According to the Interior CS, the new system will cut waiting periods for national IDs to between three and seven days.
Murkomen also said the ministry has deployed well-trained and adequately resourced personnel to oversee the exercise, including chiefs and assistant chiefs who have been sensitised on the revised registration procedures.
The mobile drive builds on recent reforms in the registration of persons, including the removal of application and replacement fees for national IDs and the abolition of vetting requirements in border counties—measures aimed at simplifying access and promoting inclusivity.
The Usajili Mashinani initiative is part of the government’s broader agenda to ensure every eligible Kenyan is documented and able to fully participate in national life and access essential services.
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