Chiefs and assistant chiefs are set to spearhead the verification of applicants for national identity cards following the abolition of vetting committees, Belio Kipsang, Principal Secretary for the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, has said.
Speaking to National Government Administration Officers in Eldoret on Thursday, April 2, 2026, Kipsang said the change in policy was due to a request from President William Ruto to eliminate the vetting system, which many people criticised for being unfair in how it granted access to identification documents.
Further, he disclosed that 462,000 identity cards remain uncollected nationwide, including approximately 15,000 in Uasin Gishu County, nearly half of which belong to first-time applicants.
He directed chiefs to coordinate with local administrative structures, including village elders under the Nyumba Kumi initiative, to ensure the documents are traced and issued to the rightful owners.
Kipsang said the removal of vetting committees required establishing an alternative, structured mechanism to authenticate applicants, with the mandate now formally vested in chiefs and their assistants.
“The responsibility of identifying bona fide Kenyan applicants has been reassigned to NGAO officers at the grassroots, specifically chiefs and assistant chiefs,” he said.
Additionally, he revealed that the government has launched a program in more than 27 counties to inform and train administrative officers on the new rules and ensure everyone follows the same procedures.
He underscored that chiefs are institutionally well-suited to the role due to their permanent deployment within local jurisdictions, which enables them to reliably ascertain applicants’ identities and residency.
Concurrently, the government is scaling up mobile registration in marginalised and border counties that were previously affected by vetting requirements, with the exercise conducted in West Pokot, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, and Narok, and ongoing in Kajiado, with further rollout planned for Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu.
To reinforce operational capacity, the department has deployed 56 vehicles and procured biometric “live capture” kits, with more than 200 units already delivered from an order of 600.
To add to that, Kipsang said the integration of technology has significantly enhanced service delivery, reducing processing timelines for both national identity cards and passports to between three and seven days.
