President William Ruto signed a decree scrapping the long-standing vetting process for national identification cards (IDs) in Kenya’s North Eastern region.
Speaking in Wajir County, Ruto said the move is set to address historical discrimination against communities in the area.
The 60-year-old vetting requirement, which primarily affected Somali Kenyans and other communities in the region, has long been criticized as a form of systemic discrimination that subjected residents to additional scrutiny when applying for national IDs.
"If it’s about vetting, let all children of Kenya be vetted equally without any discrimination. We want the people of Northern Kenya to feel equal to the rest of the country," he said.
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The move which is seen as a major political strategy by Ruto comes a week after the High Court in Garissa has annulled the 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) census results for Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties.
In his ruling delivered on Wednesday, January 29, Justice John Onyiego found that KNBS failed to uphold fundamental standards of data accuracy, resulting in erroneous population figures for the affected regions.
The Court directed KNBS to conduct a fresh mini-population census for the affected regions within one year.
"That a structural interdict order be and is hereby issued directing the KNBS (1st respondent) to conduct a fresh mini-population census in respect to Mandera North, Mandera West, Banisa, Lafey, Mandera East and Mandera sub-counties (constituencies), Eldas, Tarbaj, Wajir West, Wajir East and Wajir North sub-counties (constituencies), Balambala, Lagdera, Dadaab and Garissa Township sub-counties (constituencies) within a period of one year from the date of delivery of this judgment," Onyiego ruled.
The Court also prohibited all constitutional bodies, including the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), from using the disputed census figures for any official purposes.
"That an order of prohibition do and is hereby issued prohibiting the 2nd, 3rd and 4th respondents from relying on or in any other way from utilizing the disputed published 2019 KPHC results pursuant to Articles 215, 216 and 89 of the constitution in sharing and or determining boundary delimitation," Onyiego added.
