The government is targeting thousands of undocumented residents in pastoralist, border and hard-to-reach regions through a nationwide identity cards registration and sensitisation drive.
Under the Usajili Mashinani mobile ID initiative, authorities aim to register 100,000 individuals in each marginalised county, beginning with West Pokot and Baringo. The exercise will then be rolled out to all other marginalised areas.
The move will finally allow thousands of undocumented Kenyans to obtain national identity cards, birth certificates and access government services.
Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen said the drive seeks to end historical marginalisation and exclusion from citizenship rights for residents in the targeted regions.
Many people in pastoralist and border communities have long avoided registration fearing association with banditry or encountering bureaucratic barriers.
Launching the drive in Kapenguria, West Pokot on Tuesday, CS Murkomen described it as a deliberate effort to dismantle longstanding obstacles to obtaining national identity cards, birth certificates and passports.
“We are committed to ending historical marginalisation, inequality and exclusion from citizenship rights and government services. That is why we are taking deliberate steps to eliminate all barriers to access to IDs, passports and birth certificates,” he said.
The documentation gap has had far-reaching implications, particularly in the education sector.
Headteachers in remote primary schools in Tiaty Constituency report that thousands of learners lack birth certificates and cannot be registered under the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) as many parents do not have national IDs.
Nemis is the government’s online portal for education data management and registration of candidates for national examinations. Schools in the region have struggled to operate effectively as government funding is only allocated to learners captured in the system.
Some residents avoid applying for IDs out of fear of being linked to banditry, further complicating birth registration for their children.
The scale of the problem was highlighted in July last year when CS Murkomen revealed that more than 161,000 adults in Baringo County lacked IDs with over 45,000 undocumented residents in Tiaty alone.
“It is a major concern that more than 161,000 people in Baringo County have no IDs, denying them crucial services and opportunities. This is a calamity because there are people over 70 years old in Tiaty without documents. That is gross marginalisation,” he said at the time.
He added that the government will work with local leaders to take advantage of reforms including free issuance for first-time applicants and new live-capture technology that speeds up processing.
The ongoing exercise will initially focus on pastoralist regions before being rolled out to all 47 counties. It will include a 10-day intensive mobile registration programme in targeted areas and is fully funded by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“Our goal is to register 100,000 undocumented individuals within West Pokot, a target that will be replicated across all marginalised regions in Kenya,” CS Murkomen said during the launch at the West Pokot Huduma Centre.
To facilitate the programme, the government has deployed 14 motor vehicles with eight additional vehicles set to ensure coverage of all wards and support school-based registration.
The Ministry has also commissioned 91 portable live-capture machines capable of collecting applicants’ data in real time reducing ID processing periods to three to seven days.
Well-trained staff including chiefs and assistant chiefs sensitised on revised registration procedures, will conduct the exercise. Registration centres will operate over weekends to accommodate nomadic and pastoralist communities.
The initiative builds on recent policy reforms, including the removal of application and replacement fees for all national IDs and the abolition of vetting requirements in border counties measures previously cited as major obstacles to registration.
The drive is expected to have a significant impact in counties such as Baringo, where more than 100,000 residents have yet to obtain IDs.
Speaking earlier at the Kenya School of Government in Kabarnet while leading a sensitisation programme for chiefs and assistant chiefs, Immigration Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said the Usajili Mashinani exercise will address long-standing documentation gaps, particularly in remote areas such as Tiaty Constituency.
Immigration Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang at a past event.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
He noted that many communities remain unregistered due to limited outreach during previous campaigns, compounded by vast terrain, nomadic lifestyles, and poor accessibility.
The programme targets 15 counties that have been disadvantaged for decades aiming to ensure all residents can access essential government services.
“We want to ensure that all Kenyans who should have identification cards and birth certificates do get them. We are working with grassroots leaders to reach out to locals, especially in far-flung areas who have been disadvantaged for many years, like Tiaty Constituency,” Dr Kipsang said.
From February 23, the government will roll out a 10-day intensive mobile registration exercise across Baringo County, focusing on arid and semi-arid areas.
“We want to ensure everyone in hard-to-reach areas gets IDs, especially in Tiaty, where residents have been historically disadvantaged in accessing government services, including police recruitment. Every ward in Baringo County will have 10 days for registration,” Dr Kipsang said.
Modern live-capture equipment will transmit data directly to headquarters in Nairobi for verification and printing.
“When we take your information, it is replicated at headquarters in Nairobi, verified, submitted for printing, and within three to seven days, those who have registered will receive their documents,” he said.
To enhance outreach in Baringo, the government has deployed 44 vehicles to reach hard-to-access areas, while chiefs, village elders, and Nyumba Kumi structures will ensure full coverage.
Dr Kipsang underscored the urgency of the exercise, noting that more than 22,000 government services are now accessed through the e-Citizen platform, which requires a national ID.
“More than 500,000 Kenyans visit the platform daily to access services, so it is critical that every citizen can register and open an account,” he said.
Police officers on patrol in Samburu.
Photo credit: Geoffrey Ondieki | Nation Media Group
Beyond documentation, CS Murkomen provided an update on security operations along the volatile Turkana–West Pokot border, revealing that intensified efforts led to the recovery of more than 20 illegal firearms from suspected bandits within 24 hours.
“The recovery of these guns signals the government’s commitment to eradicating banditry and restoring lasting peace in affected regions,” he said.
He added that the government is training additional security personnel to manage hotspots in Turkana, West Pokot, Samburu, and Isiolo, and plans to tour the Kainuk area along the West Pokot–Turkana border to assess security firsthand.
