Police smash Kenyan citizenship sale syndicate, suspects arrested

The recent arrest of 26 people has lifted the lid on how rogue government officials are colluding with civilians to sell Kenyan citizenship to foreigners.

Behind the document-identity racket are Registrar of Persons clerks, Immigration officials, administrative officers, businessmen and brokers who aid aliens, some with ill-motives, to fraudulently become Kenyans.

Emboldened by the Government’s decision to relax vetting rules during national identity card (ID) application process, the racketeers sometimes sell the Kenyan citizenship for a song. For as little as Sh100,000, a foreigner is able to acquire Kenyan nationality, compromising systems through bribery. And this has been made much easier following a presidential decree that eliminated the vetting process.  

In February, President William Ruto signed a proclamation abolishing vetting for individuals seeking ID cards in Northern Kenya and other border counties.

While signing the Presidential Proclamation on Registration and Issuance of IDs to Border Counties at Orahey Grounds in Wajir Town, Dr Ruto termed the practice unjust and disenfranchising.

“If it is about vetting, let all children of Kenya be vetted equally without any discrimination,” said the President. Since then, there has been a worrying trend of aliens frequently being caught while attempting to acquire Kenyan nationality. Lucky ones have succeeded, and are now comfortably settled in the country as original citizens, enjoying all the privileges under the law.

President Ruto’s move drew criticism from ordinary citizens and opposition leaders who raised concerns that it would open the door for foreigners to acquire Kenyan citizenship, unlike in the past when the vetting process deterred blatant mischief.

The latest operation coming against the backdrop of similar arrests in the past few weeks, vindicates those who initially opposed the presidential proclamation on grounds it failed to clearly spell-out safeguard measures against fraudsters who might take advantage of the decree to compromise national security.

After days of investigations and profiling of the culprits involved in the racket, detectives attached to Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) that focus on cross-border criminal networks and human trafficking swung into action at the weekend, making arrests in different parts of Nairobi and surrounding neigbourhoods.

The Government officers involved in the racket described by Directorate Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohamed Amin as “deep” include Judy Kemunto Ondari based at Registrar of Persons in Embakasi, Moses Mugoya Margaret, a clerk at Registrar of Persons head office at NSSF Buildings, Ruth Osebe Sukuru of Registrar of Persons at Kamukunji office, Festus Bahati Chai, a fingerprints technician at the Registrar of Persons head office, Geoffrey Mokoro Mutanya, a clerk at Immigration head office, Joseph Mwenda Munyithia, Registrar of Persons Kamukunji office, David Korir, Registrar of Persons head office,  and Titus Mwanga Nthenge, a senior staff at Registrar of Persons head office.

The DCI dragnet also nabbed Eastleigh North assistant chief Jawahir Mohamed Muse and his Eastleigh counterpart Mohamed Issack Gedow and brokers Abdirizak Osman Rege, Alfred Opia Ayaway, and Abdirizak Bashir Farah.

In custody also are businessmen Moulid Yusuf Dige, Samater Osman Robne, Fuadh Bulle Mohamed, and electronics technician Abdirizak Abdi alongside Abdirashid Mohamed Ali, a clerk at Shima Group International.

Other suspects involved in the racket aiding terrorists, fraudsters and criminals to acquire Kenyan citizenship include Yahya Daud Manor, Issack Abdow Mohammed, Nelson Katana Kazungu, Daniel Munywoki Kavuwa, Abdullahi Abdi Khamisi, and Abdirahman Roba Guyo.

“We want to go deeper, disrupt and expose the entire racket that has serious implications on our security,” said Amin, promising that the probe will spare nobody, regardless of status in society.

According to DCI boss, the break-through highlights the need for Kenyans to jealously guard national registration systems besides assisting law enforcers to dismantle syndicates that illegally profit from document-identity fraud.

Investigators are pursuing more people involved in the fraud involving issuance of IDs, passports, birth certificates, and foreigner/alien ID cards, among other vital personal documents that link a person to their motherland.

During the two-day crackdown, detectives uncovered a disturbing network of collusion, where the civil servants bypassed laid-down procedures, exploiting their positions to facilitate the illicit registration and issuance of sensitive documents.

“This criminal enterprise severely compromises the integrity of government systems and exposes the country to grave security risks, including the undocumented entry and exit of individuals,” said the DCI in a statement.

The sleuths found a significant haul of government documents and tools hidden in homes of some suspects.

Some of the recovered items included filled and blank national ID application forms, fingerprint-taking equipment (slabs, rollers, and related instruments), birth and death certificates, passports, official government stamps, and other registration materials.

“The two-day crackdown netted civil servants from the National Registration Bureau and the Directorate of Immigration, alongside chiefs, financiers of the illegal schemes, and middlemen who fast-tracked the issuance of these documents through corrupt channels,” added the DCI.

Following the relaxation of vetting requirements, IDs and passports are in high demand from foreigners, especially Somali nationals, desperately in need of the vital documents.

The Standard was informed foreigners in need a Kenyan ID pay between Sh100,000 and Sh1 million.

Apart from Somali nationals, Tanzanians, Ugandans and Nigerians are some of notorious foreigners easily acquiring Kenyan citizenship thanks to the well-orchestrated racket whose roots are at NSSF Building, with tentacles spread across the country as manifested following a series of arrests in the past few weeks.