Candidates sitting this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) will receive the new Maisha Card before the conclusion of the exams.
The announcement follows concerns raised by the Ministry of Interior in June about delays in issuing National ID cards nationwide that affected students who were applying for university funding.
Hundreds of students from needy families missed out on government funding and sponsorship on account of being underage.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the issuance of ID cards to those who will have attained 18 years and above among the 965,000 candidates is intended to ease access to university education and other tertiary institutions.
While addressing the National Assembly’s Education, Research and Technology Committee, Mr Bitok stated that the collaborative effort between the ministries of Interior and Education aims to ensure that students enrolling in universities and colleges are not disadvantaged by the lack of identification documents.
“We have mobilised our registration officers across the country to issue Maisha Cards to eligible candidates to enable those who qualify to join local or international universities, apply for Higher Education Loans Board, scholarships and other post-high school pursuits,” he said.
The PS further noted that the transition to a paperless system for ID applications allows users to apply via the eCitizen portal.
"We’ve gone paperless. You apply for your ID on the eCitizen portal, then visit any Huduma Centre or NRB county office for your biometrics, which will be relayed in real-time to the NRB headquarters in Nairobi," he said.
Further inquiries from the committee led by Julius Melly focused on the steps being taken to address the delays in issuing ID cards, which had affected candidates applying to universities and other tertiary institutions earlier this year.
Tinderet MP asked about the ongoing issues with ID issuance for those qualified to join universities, emphasising that without IDs, students cannot access HELB loans or scholarships. He inquired about the progress being made to ensure timely access to IDs for these students.
The PS explained that the delays in issuing Maisha Cards were primarily due to multiple court injunctions that halted the government's efforts, resulting in a backlog of 600,000 unprinted cards.
He noted that the government had successfully petitioned to lift these orders and addressed the backlog by investing in a new printer and implementing a 24-hour work schedule.
“Our average daily applications are around 10,000, but we have a total printing capacity of 32,000. So far, we have printed more than 1.8 million cards of which 1.29 million have been collected," he said.
The PS urged applicants to pick up more than 569,000 cards, noting that those whose IDs are ready have already been notified via SMS.
The Maisha Card, which bears the Maisha Namba, is essentially the third-generation ID, which has replaced the current second-generation ID.
