Murkomen explains scope of mass mobile ID registration drive set for launch
By K24 Digital Reporter, October 3, 2025Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said the government is set to roll out a mass National Identity (IDs) registration drive, targeting over one million Kenyans who have attained the mandatory age, in less than a fortnight.
The CS has said that the policy interventions by the ministry to ensure citizens have better access to identification services have yielded results with the increase in applications for the IDs, especially from marginalised communities.
In a press briefing on Friday, October 3, 2025, Murkomen said that over 400,000 National Identification Cards (IDs) lie uncollected, with duplicates accounting for over 270,000.
“We are working very hard to ensure Kenyans who are not registered, and those doing replacements, are going to happen in record time. Starting from the other week, we are going to roll out the mobile registration program in pastoralist areas,” Murkomen revealed.
Murkomen had earlier announced that the government would issue first-time IDs within three days through a digital system.
The remarks come amid a push by leaders to have Kenyans, especially the youth to have an ID to participate in the voter registration ahead of the upcoming by-elections and 2027 polls.
He said the exercise will be targeting the Northern, Eastern, and some parts of the Coast regions, to ensure that those who have been left out for many years are now going to get their IDs.
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Murkomen explained the ministry’s policy interventions to ensure citizens have better access to identification services; these include removal of extra vetting for applicants in border counties, free issuance of IDs for Not Previously Registered Persons (NPR), and scrapping of verification fees for birth certificates.
“The security checks put in place are to ensure no one in Kenya can get an ID if they do not deserve one, including cases where some Kenyans want to have an extra ID to change their age, sometimes they want an ID, yet they are registered as refugees unprocedurally,” he said.
“As a result of the application of the latest technology, Kenyans can get their IDs in a matter of minutes, and delivery to the various registration centers happens within three to seven days.”
The CS stressed that the live capture machines are extremely important to reach Kenyans from all parts of the country, especially youths seeking jobs overseas, mobile transactions, and exercising their political rights to vote.