Confusion has arisen after Huduma Centre announced that Kenyans must still pay to replace their ID cards, contradicting President William Ruto’s earlier claim that the fee had been scrapped.
In a message on Wednesday, October 29, the agency clarified that Kenyans seeking to replace lost or damaged ID cards must pay Ksh1,050 for the service.
"To replace your ID, you will need a police abstract and a payment of Ksh1,050 through your eCitizen account.
"Kindly visit the nearest Huduma Centre to complete the process. You can obtain the police abstract either from the Huduma Centre or at a nearby police station," the agency said.
The statement contradicts Ruto’s assurance that the government had suspended all charges associated with acquiring or replacing national identification cards.
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Speaking on Tuesday, October 28, he said his administration is committed to ensuring that lack of an ID would not be a barrier to voter registration or access to essential services.
"We will ensure no one is denied the opportunity to register as a voter because they lack an identification card.
"Previously, we charged Ksh300 for a new ID card, but currently there are no charges, and likewise, the replacement was Ksh1,000, but we have decided to suspend the amount," he said.
This comes months after Huduma Kenya announced plans to cut the time it takes to process Police Clearance Certificates, commonly known as Good Conduct Certificates, to just one day.
The announcement was made on Thursday, July 24, following a multi-agency meeting to discuss ways to streamline and modernize service delivery mechanisms across the country.
"Plans are underway to significantly reduce the turnaround time (TAT) for DCI services with police clearance certificates soon to be processed and issued within a single day.
"This follows the announcement by Assistant Inspector General Mr. Gillion Mwangi that Multi-Biometric Identification (MBI) systems and live capture machines will be introduced at Huduma Centres," the statement read.
Huduma Kenya added that the new system will be implemented through a collaborative approach, and is aimed at improving service delivery.
"The initiative is aimed at improving operational efficiency at the DCI desk and providing faster, more seamless services to citizens through Huduma Centres across the country," the statement added.
Recently, the agency announced that more than 160,000 vital documents are now ready for collection at Huduma Centres across the country.
In its notice put out on Wednesday, September 10, the program said the documents available for pick-up include 82,506 national IDs, 57,444 smart driving licenses, and 22,524 birth certificates.
"Your government documents are ready for collection. Visit any of our 59 Huduma Centres nationwide and pick them today," the notice read.
