Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i on Monday, June 15, distanced himself from the ID cards and passport scandal after an exposé revealed that the government was issuing Kenyan documents to foreigners.
Matiang'i claimed that he, together with former ICT CS Joe Mucheru, had set up a credible system to streamline the issuance of national IDs and passports.
He argued that if he were the Head of State, he would not have allowed such to happen under his watch and called for decisive action.
"When I was in the Ministry of Interior, we had sorted out all these things. We had established systems and worked to clean up that place. Now, things are back to business as usual.
"I believe that this is something that would not happen if I were the president. I would deal with it with a measure of courageous decisiveness that is needed to clean up all this nonsence," Matiang'i reiterated.
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The Jubilee Presidential Aspirant described the operation as a dangerous, criminal, and unpatriotic trade which had dire consequences, including damaging the credibility of Kenya's travel documents.
"Our passports will be downgraded, our travel documents are going to be questioned, and the credibility of our identification documents is now in jeopardy," he stated.
Matiang'i linked the issuing of identification documents to foreign nationals to a sinister plan to manipulate the 2027 General Election.
"That cartel of evil that is selling our documents is driven by the desire to create fictitious numbers and identities to facilitate voting of even non-Kenyans during the 2027 General Elections," he added.
The former Interior Boss argued that the revelation was yet another reason why Kenyans should not vote for President William Ruto for a second term in the upcoming elections.
His response came after Belgut Member of Parliament (MP) Nelson Koech claimed that Matiang'i should be held accountable for the scandal.
Koech argued that the majority of the ID cards and passports were issued in 2022, when he was still in charge of the Interior Ministry.
According to the media probe, Somali, Ethiopian, Ugandans, and nationals from the neighbouring countries obtained Kenyan documents for a fee of Ksh15,000.
The report revealed that the issuance of ID cards and passports ratified that the foreigners were Kenyans, despite not going through the required procedures stipulated by the citizen registration policies.
