Court judgement paves way for national ID issuance to over 40k ‘persecuted’ Kenyans

A High Court in Kenya recently delivered a judgement which could end years of ordeal for more than 40,000 persons struggling to get national ID cards.

Information about the court verdict was announced by Haki Na Sheria, a Non-Governmental Organisation that followed up the matter in court for the past three years. This is an organization based in Kenya’s Garissa County and is dedicated to protecting the rights of communities in the Northern part of that country.

Per the NGO, these Kenyans who live near refugee communities such as Dadaab and Kakuma were erroneously registered by Kenyan authorities as refugees, leading them to a situation of “double identity” which made it impossible for them to have a clear legal identity.

Reports indicate that people in that situation had their fingerprint biometrics captured both in the refugee and national databases, which made it difficult for their real identity to be established.

“Today brought a life-changing moment for communities in Northern Kenya: a pivotal court judgement declaring that the denial of nationality documents to double registered people was both unconstitutional and infringed on their rights,” the statement from Haki Na Sheria reads.

As a human rights watchdog, the organization had sued the Kenyan government, asking that the move to register those citizens as refugees be reversed.

Many of the people are said to have registered as refugees due to acute poverty and want, to be able to get humanitarian supplies from the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR).

These affected people, the organization said, have been without national ID cards for years and “without these vital documents, they have been unable to do simple things like opening a bank account, get access to business premises, receive health services, education, or formal employment.”

According to Haki Na Sheria, the court has ordered the government and relevant agencies to deregister the names of victims of double registration who have been screened, vetted, cleared, and declared to be Kenyan citizens from the refugees database within 60 days.

It added that the court also urged authorities “to collaborate with relevant agencies to activate or reactivate vetting committees to start, within six months, new vetting processes for other double registered individuals who were not included in previous efforts.”

A report on the implementation of their actions is expected to be made public at the end of the six-month period directed by the court, the statement indicates.

“As a human rights organization, we interpret this judgement as recognition of the immense suffering that double registered people have endured over the years – their own country effectively serving as an “open prison,”” Haki Na Sheria said.

“We anticipate that the government will diligently work towards implementing the court judgement to ensure every Kenyan affected by the double registration is fully removed from the refugee database and issued with Kenyan identity cards within the timeline.”

If the government acts as required, these Kenyans will be able to national ID cards and passports, especially aa tie when the Citizen and Immigration Services says recently introduced reforms in this sector are paying off.

That notwithstanding, Kenya’s government has faced challenges with its national ID system, including several legal cases.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  identity document  |  Kenya  |  national ID  |  refugee registration