ID hiding idea may lock security guards out of vote

With eight days left to the closing of manual voter registration, a group of city-based security guards has contacted PointBlank to point out an injustice and illegality by their employer that may exclude them from voting.

They claim that upon recruitment, the company’s policy is to retain original national identity cards, which "for security reasons" can only be returned once one leaves employment. The document is a requirement for voter registration.

For a company that reportedly has 5,000 staff on its payroll, this should send alarm bells ringing at the Immigration ministry and Interim Independent Electoral Commission. Apparently, it is a common practice in such firms, meaning the number of Kenyans disenfranchised in this manner may be bigger.

According to the guards, asking to be given back one’s ID card temporarily is "risky and frustrating" since it involves clearing with the company as though resigning.

PointBlank thinks breaking the law by detaining ID cards to guard against crime is not only defective logic but also illegal.