Cabinet nominee for the Interior Ministry Kithure Kindiki has explained why Kenyans will be required to renew their Identification cards every ten years.
In a vetting panel at the County Hall in Nairobi on August 1, 2024, Kindiki noted that the reason for the renewal was not to punish Kenyans but to keep up with technology trends and security threats during the period.
“The card has a bit of technology chips and we want to upgrade it based on the security threats that will be identified by that time,” Kindiki observed.
In July, Immigration and Citizenship Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said Kenyans will be required to renew their National ID Cards every 10 years.
“Unlike the second-generation ID cards, the third-generation ID is a technology card and technology keeps growing old. That is why even passports have a timeframe,” Kindiki added.
During the announcement, Bitok noted that the expiry of the ID cards will be similar to that of ATM cards, adding that the microchip has a shelf life of a maximum of 10 years from the date of issuance.
He allayed fears that the renewal of ID cards would disenfranchise a section of voters and that it was timed to be implemented in the run-up to the general elections.
“The expiry date has no direct correlation with the general election date,” Bitok clarified.
He added: “This is a standard practice in countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Senegal and France, among others that have implemented an ID with microchip.”
Reforms at immigration
He also noted that Kenyans renewing their ID cards would not be required to go through the registration of fresh biometrics. He, however, stated that they would need to take new passport-sized photos to reflect the changes in their facial appearance.
On the issue of passports, Kindiki noted that his former Ministry had eliminated a backlog in the processing of the critical travel document, and added that the waiting period for the document would be reduced to three days by November 1, 2024.
He noted that corruption was still a major problem in the immigration department and that a section of Kenyans were still giving out bribes to fast-track the processing of their passports.
He promised to clean up the immigration department’s corruption, saying that 12o new staff had been employed and that older staff would be released to minimise corruption.
