MPs question Sh600 million spent on ID cards

By Alex Ndegwa

A parliamentary committee has questioned why Immigration Ministry is spending more than Sh600 million to pay off debts for second-generation identity cards, which will be phased out next year.

The departmental committee on Administration and National Security put Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang on the spot over the allocation of Sh619, 650,000 to "pay the remaining debts in the second generation ID cards."

This amount is about two-thirds of Sh939,650,000 allocated to the ministry’s National Registration Bureau Department for issuance of new IDs, commonly known as third generation ID card system.

The committee chaired by Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi questioned why the debt was outstanding during a session to scrutinise the ministry’s Sh5.3 billion budgetary allocation at KICC, Nairobi, yesterday.

Mr Kajwang said the French firm contracted to supply materials for the production of the IDs- M/s Thales security Systems- had offered services that were not paid for due to insufficient budgetary allocation.

A ministry official asked by the minister to clarify the figures told the committee last year’s arrears amounted to Sh119 million.

The committee heard the additional Sh500 million is to pay for continued issuance of old cards until the end of the year when the contract with the French firm expires.

Third generation cards

Kajwang said the Government expects to roll out third generation cards "not later than January." Foreign firms, he added, were angling for the project the ministry estimates will cost Sh1.7 billion.

But the minister regretted the initial amount of Sh320 million allocated by Treasury is too little for the "massive undertaking".

At the same time, Kajwang has blamed a legal loophole for abetting cases of foreigners obtaining work permits for jobs at the expense of qualified Kenyans.

He said there is no skills inventory to guide a committee tasked with vetting applications (Entry Work Permit Steering Committee) so that only qualified applicants are cleared.

"This has led to a situation in which foreigners acquire work permits for skills that are locally available," Kajwang said.