Candidates taking this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) will receive the new Maisha Card before the end of their examinations, according to Julius Bitok, the Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services.
During a session with the National Assembly’s Education, Research, and Technology Committee on Tuesday, Bitok explained that the initiative aims to provide ID cards to eligible candidates aged 18 and above among the approximately 965,000 students, facilitating their access to universities and other tertiary institutions.
This joint effort, spearheaded by the Ministries of Interior and Education, seeks to ensure that students entering higher education are not hindered by a lack of identification documents.
“We have mobilized registration officers nationwide to issue Maisha Cards to qualified candidates, enabling them to apply for local or international universities, as well as for loans and scholarships,” Bitok stated.
He also announced that a streamlined, paperless registration process for the Maisha Card is being piloted at Huduma Centres and National Registration Bureau offices in county headquarters. T
his aims to ensure that cards are issued within ten days.
“Applicants can now use the eCitizen portal to apply for their ID, and then visit any Huduma Centre or NRB office for biometrics, with real-time data transmission to our headquarters in Nairobi,” he added.
Committee members, led by Julius Melly, expressed concerns about delays in ID card issuance that had previously affected students seeking to enroll in universities.
“Without IDs, students cannot access HELB loans or scholarships.
What measures are in place to ensure timely ID access for these candidates?” asked Tinderet MP Melly.
Bitok attributed past delays to court injunctions that halted the Maisha Card issuance, resulting in a backlog of 600,000 unprinted cards.
He noted that the government has taken steps to resolve this by securing the lifting of these orders, investing in new printing technology, and implementing a 24-hour work schedule.
“Our average daily output is around 10,000 cards, but we can print up to 32,000. So far, we have produced over 1.8 million cards, with 1.29 million already collected,” he reported, urging those with pending IDs to retrieve them, as notifications have been sent via SMS.
Additionally, he addressed concerns regarding discrepancies on the Maisha Card affecting HELB applications, stating that the lender’s portal has been adjusted for compatibility.
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