Spare a thought for Kenyan Somalis

One of President Uhuru Kenyatta's signature projects is the Huduma Centres, the one-stop shop for all basic services among them the issuance of the all-important national identification card popularly known as ID.

The experience of the pleasant staff readily serving you is a complete departure from the often intriguing and frustrating bureaucracy we were used to in the past. Yet that is one side of the story.

The grand tales of genteel mannerisms, megawatt smiles, corporate-like customer care in Nairobi and other big towns, however, masks the reality on the ground especially for residents of the Northern Frontier.

The life of a Northerner is one of struggle to get approbation wherever one is and at whatever time. They don't feel like they belong to the bigger family of Kenya.

Many often have to look over their shoulders. Yet I don't blame the authorities for perfecting what was coined in the colonial times and perfected over the years.

One of the issues that triggered the protracted struggle for independence was the introduction (by British colonists) of the Native Registration Amendment Ordinance of 1920. This was meant to restrict the movement of Africans and thus keep track of the labour pool. The document bore finger prints, employment history and other personal details.

It must have been irksome that all males above 15 years wore a kipande on his neck. Sadly, that mentality that strips one of dignity and privacy still exists in the 21st Century Kenya. Nothing could be so discriminative and so unfair to a people.

Travel by road from, let's say, Garisa to Nairobi and from Mombasa to Nairobi or from Busia to Nairobi, the number of stops the bus will make is as varied as the direction you are coming from. From Garisa to Nairobi, on average there are at least 10 police stops all manned with mean-looking officers.

All will disembark from the vehicle "kipande mkononi". I guess the wallet has made this experience a little pleasant and less demeaning. On the other trips, the chances that the officers will pick on a Kenyan of Somali origin and ask for his documents are quite high. And to rub it in, others who look more Kenyan that the Somalis will be left out.

Because of issues of national security, one would think twice before protesting these obvious acts of intrusion into privacy.

The most irksome thing is that Government has not ensured that those who rightfully deserve an identification document get and those who don't, don't, they sit by and wait.

In such situations even the law-abiding become victims of official apathy.

And because those acts have been done repeatedly, this has become the norm in many parts for many people.

The bottom line is for as long as no one feels accountable, why should anyone care? In many developed democracies, an officer will only ask for your ID after properly identifying themselves. None of this applies for our officers.

Nothing brings out the "Ukoloni Mambo Leo" mantra (new colonialism) like the ID. For those not lucky to have been born in the "right place", getting a national ID is a matter of life and death. And there lies the rub.

The time it takes to get an ID is almost a year and sometimes one might not get it. The youth from border areas and specially Northern Kenya are the worst affected.

The Process of application involves such rudimentary methods as appearing before committees that have to identify the person and ascertain his or her identity.

A committee might fail to recognise someone because through migration, one might be domiciled elsewhere in the country.

In other words, the way of life of a Kenyan Somali works against him. Not to say that there have been cases of abuse. Rather that the measures have been unfair even to those who rightfully deserve an ID.

In more developed democracies, the issuance of identity cards is a straight forward process and requires very little effort. Citizens of these countries only require appearing at the identification section of the local municipality.

How have they managed to do this because a country like the United Kingdom is a transit point for millions each year?

This answer is an efficient basic registration system by local authorities. The use of modern technology has made it possible to manage this process without depending on human.

Methods used in Northern Kenya counties and in most of Kenya to identify young people are not only cumbersome, but also creates room for corruption.

The recent terrorist attacks demands the adoption of fool-proof methods of registration of persons and better, humane and decent ways of identifying citizens.

So yes, Huduma is good Government PR, but it should go beyond that. How about deploying such friendly personnel to the roadblocks to humanise them? A far shot I guess.

Most practical would be the proper application of technology like iris technology among others to ensure that the national ID data bank is unadulterated.

No doubt, technology will cut down on the amount of time it takes for one to acquire an identity card or a passport and help channel away the resentment from millions who fell hard done by the current system .