State must prevent discriminatory vetting in new ID issuance rules - rights groups

Five civil society groups that have fought for inclusion in the registration of people in Kenya want the government to ensure new guidelines do not replicate challenges in the abolished vetting procedure.

The five are Namati Kenya, the Nubian Rights Forum, the Haki Centre, Paranet, and the Haki na Sheria Initiative.

In a statement released Tuesday, the CSOs said the new guidelines launched by the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services, under the Interior ministry, on April 29, 2024, "retained an unequal and potentially arbitrary system for ID applications."

They noted that under the new measures, which apply only to border and cosmopolitan areas, Kenyans applying for an ID card must provide proof of name, age, and citizenship, which could be a birth certificate and parent ID card, among others.

"The guidelines further require an introductory letter from the local chief, the applicant's parent to appear in person to put their thumbprint on the form, the chief to re-verify the applicant, and the list of applicants to be passed through NIS and DCI," they said in a statement.

"It is not clear why, after an applicant provides genuine, government-issued documents to support his or her application—the same requirement for Kenyans elsewhere in the country—there should be any need for further verification steps."

'Undue pressure'

The CSOs add that vesting such power in chiefs and security agencies such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in ID application processes replicates current vetting practices.

They say the new rules further burden chiefs and assistant chiefs with significant personal liability where undeserving persons end up acquiring Kenyan ID cards.

"This places a lot of undue pressure on chiefs and might lead to arbitrary denials even where an applicant has provided the necessary documentation."

The organisations feel that, as currently issued, the guidelines will not guarantee lasting protections for communities that have faced discrimination and have been locked in an ongoing struggle to acquire nationality documentation.

"The new guidelines risk replacing the vetting committee with a process that devolves into a series of steps with the same government departments, opening opportunities for continued arbitrary questions, requests, and denials—just as occurred with vetting committees," the statement adds.

President's instructions

President William Ruto abolished vetting for IDs a month ago, citing decades-long religious and ethnic discriminatory undertones in its implementation.

Last Tuesday, in preparation for the change in policy on May 1, the Interior ministry announced the dissolution of vetting committees and launched new guidelines to direct ID issuance in 20 border counties.

According to the new registration guidelines, the registration officer shall liaise with security agencies to prevent illegal registration.

These include the chief or assistant chief, who will have to identify the applicants before registration and certify knowledge of them and the particulars presented by signing and embossing the left thumbprint on the registration form.

"We will hold chiefs to a personal account for every Kenyan ID issued to a foreigner because they will have endorsed the application," Immigration Permanent Secretary Julius Bitok said during the launch of the review of registration guidelines.

The organisations pledged to continue monitoring the new guidelines to ensure Kenya's ID system adheres to constitutional guarantees and guards against discrimination and denial of the crucial document.

"We remain willing to work with the Government of Kenya to implement the necessary legislative and regulatory changes that would guarantee an equal and fair identification system for all Kenyan citizens, no matter their ethnic and religious background or region of residence," they said.