The Somali vetting is not similar to the vetting of applicants in other border areas.
Over the decades, it evolved as collective punishment and a corruption network.
Most Kenyans do not know the challenges the Somali community in Kenya faces in obtaining identity documents such as ID cards and passports. It doesn’t matter whether one lives in Nairobi, Mandera or Kisumu. Nor does it matter whether one is born in North Eastern counties, Nairobi or any other part of the country. If one is Somali by tribe, they are subject to a discriminatory vetting process. I will cite my own experiences.
In 2018, I went to the Lang’ata area offices to change a simple error on my ID card. The team at the office knew me. But to comply with the vetting requirements, I was asked to get a copy of the Kenya Gazette in which my election as Mandera Senator was published. I served as MP and Senator, but the profiling still applied to me simply because my home county is Mandera.
