Wetang'ula urges MPs to help deliver IDs as house raises alarm over delays nationwide.

Members of Parliament are now being urged to take a central role in ensuring that applicants get their national identity cards, amid concerns over persistent delays and inequities in the processing and issuance across the country.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula has urged MPs take an active role in ensuring national identification cards reach applicants, saying Parliament facilitates staff in their constituency offices who can be deployed to bridge the gap between issuance and collection of the IDs.

“Members, as the Parliamentary Service Commission, I employ staff for you in your field offices. You have a duty to use the staff we pay to assist in delivering those IDs to your constituents. We cry that there are no IDs, yet when they are issued, no one picks them up. They are piled up in the offices of assistant county commissioners and chiefs,” said Wetang’ula.

The Speaker said MPs should leverage their offices to identify applicants whose IDs are ready and ensure they are delivered promptly, insisting that the same personnel have been deployed in public participation exercises.

He made the remarks following a request for statement by Mandera South MP Abdul Haro, who raised concern over delays in North Eastern Kenya, saying the move risks disenfranchising thousands of eligible youths.

According to Haro, despite promises by the Ministry of Interior and National Administration on ID processing within three to seven days, many applicants in northern Kenya have waited for more than six months without getting their IDs

“This delay raises serious concerns regarding equitable access to Government services. With the ongoing voter registration exercise by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), these delays risk disenfranchising eligible youth and undermining their constitutional right to vote,” he said.

He also said reports from Mandera Central Sub-County indicate that duplicate ID cards were allegedly issued to individuals who already possessed valid documents, while new applicants remained unserved.

Haro has called for a comprehensive report detailing the number of IDs processed per county and sub-county, average processing timelines, causes of delays in northern Kenya, and measures to address both duplication errors and systemic inefficiencies.

 The MPs confirmed that the delays have also been reported in other parts of the country, a nationwide challenge that should be urgently looked into.

Subukia MP, Samuel Gachobe reiterated similar concerns, saying nearly 200 applicants in his constituency have not received IDs months after applying.

“Some applied as far back as August and September last year and have not received their IDs, this is a cross-cutting issue,” he regretted.

For Kajiado North, the MP Onesmus Ngogoyo said there is need for urgent intervention to align ID issuance with the ongoing voter registration exercise.

“Can we have a government policy requiring those who have not received their IDs to be called to pick them up within the next week so they can register as voters?” he wondered.

Leader of Majority Party Kimani Ichung’wah acknowledged the delays but said the matters are being addressed.

Ichung’wah said there are about 90,000 IDs currently pending printing, but they are producing approximately 37,000 per day and the backlog will soon be cleared but insisted on the need for fairness, particularly in historically marginalised regions.

“A Kenyan is a Kenyan. Whether in Nairobi, Kikuyu, Lamu East, Mandera, Wajir or Lokichogio, every citizen must be treated equally and receive their ID within the same timelines,” he said.

Saku MP Dido Ali Rasso said the National Administration committee will summon the Principal Secretary to provide a comprehensive national status report on IDs but also noted that there are still many uncollected IDs, which have already been processed in various regions.

“Two weeks ago, we were in Eldoret and found almost 8,000 uncollected ID cards. In Kisumu, we found similar numbers,” Rasso said.