Kenya aims for ID issuance within three weeks, same-day birth registration

Kenya is moving to accelerate the issuance of national identity cards, particularly in border counties like Mandera in the country’s north-east, reports Capital FM. Birth and death certificates are also now expected to be processed more quickly, with same-day issuance.

The government is committed to issuing ID cards within 21 days of receiving an application, according to Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok.

Bitok was speaking during the inauguration of a new Civil Registration Services (CRS) office in Mandera, and said the directive is intended to address a backlog for the important identity document.

“We are determined to make it easier for citizens to obtain important services including IDs and other documents,” Bitok says.

Birth registration in Mandera lags far behind Kenya’s national average, at 13 percent, compared to 86 percent across the country. The same goes for death registration, at 6 percent, compared to a national average of 55 percent.

Kenya launched digital registration of births earlier this year to help boost its drive towards universal identification.

Bitok also recently discussed the uses of the incoming Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) system that is replacing the nascent Huduma Namba.

Kenyans will be able to use the UPI for school administration and sitting exams, government interactions, national health insurance and social security assistance, and driving licenses, reports BitKE.

The UPI, therefore, harmonizes a variety of functional and foundational IDs, like the Huduma Namba, which was built on the blockchain. The use of the blockchain was intended to help reduce corruption and fraud in the country, but it is unclear at this point if the UPI will also use a distributed ledger.

Article Topics

Africa  |  birth registration  |  civil registration  |  digital ID  |  Kenya  |  legal identity  |  national ID  |  Unique Personal Identifier (UPI)