Gov’t Issues Update on ID Printing After Court Lifts Suspension
Gov’t Issues Update on ID Printing After Court Lifts Suspension: The State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services has finally resolved a long-standing issue with the backlog of national identity cards.
According to The Ministry, The previous backlog has been cleared, but there remains a staggering number of over 470,000 uncollected cards lying dormant across the country.
The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has managed to clear the previous backlog of National ID applications. As of the latest update, only 1,358 applications are currently awaiting routine processing. The department is expediting the handling of new requests and has significantly ramped up its printing capacity to 32,000 National IDs per day.
The production of National IDs was temporarily halted on July 25 when the High Court issued a conservatory order stopping the issuance of The Maisha Card.
However, Following a successful appeal by the Government, the High Court lifted the conservatory order on August 12, allowing the NRB to resume the printing of new and duplicate National IDs.
Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has disclosed that a total of 476,167 printed National ID cards remain uncollected in NRB registration offices and Huduma Centres across the nation.
Nairobi County has the highest number of uncollected IDs at 55,327, Kiambu with 37,708, Nakuru with 28,581, Kisumu (18,529), Mombasa (17,140), Kisii (15,842), Muranga (13,627), Uasin Gishu (13,155), Kajiado (12,533), and Bungoma (12,053).
Bitok urged all applicants who have yet to collect their IDs to visit the registration stations where they submitted their applications without delay.