Applicants for new Identity cards will now receive them within three weeks as the government moves to fast-track the issuance of the vital document.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof Julius Bitok said Tuesday the 21-working days processing timeline was especially meant to hasten the issuance of IDs in Mandera and other border counties.
Speaking in Lafey, Mandera County during the opening of the Civil Registration Services (CRS) office for the issuance of birth and death certificates, the PS said the directive is also meant to clear the backlog of pending applications.
“We are determined to make it easier for citizens to obtain important services including IDs and other documents.”
“We have therefore directed that no applicant will have to wait for more than 21 days from the date of application to receive his or her ID,” he said.
Last week, the PS announced that birth certificates and death certificates will now be processed on the same day of application.
The newly opened office that will be serving Lafey sub-county is a welcome relief to residents who previously traveled long distances to what was the only civil registration office in the vast Mandera county.
“We are aware that our citizens have been spending over Sh5,000 traveling to Mandera and spending a lot of time to obtain birth certificates. We have now significantly reduced this inconvenience by opening a nearby office in Mandera,” the PS said.
He urged the residents to take advantage of the new office that was funded by the Lafey Constituency Development Fund to obtain birth and death certificates and to raise the rate of registration compliance.
At 13 percent and six percent of birth and death registration respectively, Mandera has among the lowest rates in the country.
The national average stands at 86% and 55 percent respectively.
The PS also issued for distribution over 1,500 IDs for Lafey residents that have been processed in the last month.
The function was attended by the area MP Abdirahman Mohammed Abdi and his Bura counterpart and Bura MP Yakub Adow.
