Take action to stop sale of Kenyan identity documents

Rogue officials within the Immigration Department and the National Registration Bureau facilitate the issuance of IDs and passports. [File, Standard]

Kenya's immigration scandal is back in the headlines, and for a good reason. Yet again, The Standard newspaper’s investigative unit has exposed a rot so entrenched within the Immigration Department and the National Registration Bureau that one is left wondering whether those in authority actually want it stopped.

Foreign nationals, especially from Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundiand Uganda, are acquiring Kenyan identity cards and passports through a well-organised syndicate of corrupt officials, paid brokers and hired 'parents'. One man in the NRB database reportedly appears as the father of over 100 people. An Ethiopian labourer at Kiamaiko goat market admits, on camera, that he bought his Kenyan ID in Marsabit for Sh15,000. This is a dangerous business that must be nipped in the bud. 

The dangers this practice exposes Kenya to are real and dire. From the 1998 US Embassy bombing in Nairobi to the Dusit attack, investigators have time and again traced how fraudulent identity documents enabled criminals to move, hide and kill. A Kenyan passport, once compromised, becomes a master key to territories closed to the holder's actual nationality. The Algoney Hamdan Dagalo case, the senior Sudan RSF commander who obtained Kenyan passport is a case in point. A Kenyan travel document ended up in the hands of a man linked to the Sudan war. Months later, not a single official has been held to account. Above all, no one should gain the priviledge of being Kenyan through the backdoor.

The government bears sole responsibility for this criminal enterprise. President William Ruto's January 2024 abolition of traditional visa requirements, followed by the February 2025 scrapping of the multi-agency vetting framework for Kenyan Somalis and border county residents, dismantled the last real safeguards. Security insiders warned repeatedly that removing local chiefs, DCI officers, NIS personnel and registration officials from the vetting chain would open floodgates.

The people behind this syndicate are not petty criminals. They are rogue officials within the very institutions mandated to protect Kenya's sovereign documents, abetted by brokers with cross-border networks. They know the system's weaknesses because, evidently, they helped to build them.

The 2027 General Election further makes inaction unacceptable and dangerous. An ID card is the entry point to voter registration. Anyone who fraudulently holds a Kenyan ID can register to vote. Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has already raised alarm over foreigners being issued IDs along the Kenya–Uganda border with the election in mind. The IEBC dismissed his claims without serious investigation.

This newspaper has called for accountability before. We repeat the demand. All officials under whose watch this breakdown occurred must answer for it. A full audit of documents issued after the vetting suspension must begin immediately. Irregularities must trigger revocations. Insiders willing to expose this racket deserve protection and a hearing. Heads must roll. Rogue officials can't treat our identity documents as merchandise and escape punishment.