State to charge on ID card replacement

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i

NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenyans will from Thursday pay Sh100 for replacement of lost, torn, and worn out or mutilated ID cards.

Many have been enjoying such services for free when the then Sh300 fee, which had been introduced in 2011 by the then Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ was waived to encourage registration of voters ahead of the 2013 General Election.

“The Registration of Persons Rules is amended in rule 8 by deleting the words “shall not pay any fees” appearing in paragraph (6) and substituting therefore the words ‘shall pay to the authorized officer a fee of one hundred shillings’,” Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said in a notice on February 9.

According to section 16 of the Registration of Persons Act, the CS can proscribe the fees for a duplicate ID or for initial registration.

A person replacing a lost ID requires a police abstract while those with unserviceable one must surrender it to a registration officer and apply for a renewal, which takes about 10 days.

The Immigration department also issues passports, visas and work or residence permits.

Principal Secretary (PS) Maj-Gen Gordon Kihalangwa told a Parliamentary Committee the department collected about Sh10.5 billion in 2016, representing a Sh3.5 billion growth compared with 2015, largely because of automation of passport and visa services.