State to embark on mass ID registration drive in 15 counties

The government has announced plans for a mass mobile ID registration exercise in 15 counties that have low registration. To speed up issuance of the documents and ensure that many Kenyans obtain the all-important documents, live capture machines will be deployed in all the 1450 wards in the country.

The announcement was made by the Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen, who emphasized that the move is part of the government’s efforts to correct historical discrepancies where many Kenyans faced hurdles in obtaining the crucial identification documents.

Murkomen assured that the government was taking measures to ensure that only eligible Kenyans received the documents. “I am gratified to note that our officers are working hard to meet the high demand for IDs and that security measures put in place ensure only the rightful people get the document,” he said on Friday, October 3, 2025, while assessing the ID printing process at the National Registration Bureau headquarters in Nairobi.

“Following the scrapping of extra vetting requirements to register for IDs in border counties and the removal of fees charged on first-time applications, more people are turning up to register for IDs,” said the CS.

The vetting system, which was scrapped by President William Ruto in February, unreasonably affected communities, especially in border and pastoralist regions, aggravating inequality in access to government services and, by extension, public service jobs, education, and formal employment.

The CS said the introduction of the live capture system, which has been on a pilot project, has drastically reduced the time taken to process IDs. The Mobile Live Capture Unit, a portable battery-powered machine, is used to capture ID applicants' data and submit it electronically for processing.

In the new setup, the CS said, it will take three to seven days to receive an ID card once a person is registered. “We shall step up our reforms in the sector to ensure no Kenyan is left behind,” he said.

During his visit to Wajir last week as part of the Jukwaa La Usalama tours across the country, the CS hailed the use of the Live Capture Unit technology to register students in schools and people in remote areas, saying that it had made the service more accessible to the people.

Together with national and local leaders, he witnessed the issuance of IDs to students of Wajir Secondary School. For students in the region, this was a major shift that reflected the government's plans to simplify procedures and eliminate bottlenecks that have historically delayed access to crucial national documentation.

Previously, students from Northern Kenya counties were deliberately left out of the school ID registration drive that was intended to ensure eligible students receive their IDs before leaving secondary school.

The CS noted that 400,000 IDs, 191,000 belonging to first-time applicants, remain uncollected and urged applicants to visit the registration centers in their respective areas to collect the documents.