Kenyans will soon have to cough out more money than before to obtain some important identity credentials such the new national ID card, biometric passports as well as civil status registration papers like birth and death certificates.
This is according to a notice issued Tuesday November 7 by Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, Citizen Digital reports.
Late last month, Kindiki had gazetted the legislation that would oversee the issuance of the country’s new digital ID dubbed Maisha Namba expected to be launched in December.
Going forward, ID cards, which were obtained for free until now by first-time applicants, will be issued at the cost of 1,000 Kenyan shillings (US$6.5), while those seeking to replace a lost or damaged card will pay the same amount, as opposed to the Ksh100 (US$0.65) currently in place.
For passports, the prices have also gone up for all categories, namely for ordinary, service and diplomatic passports. The new fee for a 34-page ordinary passport, for example, has gone up by Ksh3,000 (US$19.7); the 50-page ordinary passport fee has increased by Ksh3,500 (US$23), while the 66-page ordinary passport amount has witnessed a hike of Ksh5,000 (US$32).
The fees for replacing lost and damaged passports have respectively increased by Ksh8,000 (US$52) and 10,000 (US$65), the outlet indicates.
With regards to birth certificates, the application fee now moves from Ksh50 (US$0.32) to Ksh200 (US$1.3), while the amount required to pay for corrections on either birth or death certificates have increased by Ksh870 (US$5.7).
As Citizen Digital notes, fees have also been increased for other services including all categories of residence and work permits.
The decision to hike fees for the ID credentials has already met with disgruntlement from Kenyans who say the move smacks of extortion amid a cost-of-living crisis. Some citizens have expressed their discontent in social media comments captured in a BBC report.
The authority for the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services to adjust fees for its services was granted by the National Treasury and Economic Planning in line with Regulation 60 of the Public Finance Management Regulations 2015, per The Star.
Early this year, Sierra Leone increased fees for obtainable biometric ID credentials like ID cards, with citizens raising discontent over the move.
Cameroonians also expect a similar reality when a new ID card issuance system goes operational in the months ahead, according to a hint from the ID-issuing authority.
Source: Biometric Update