A backlog of more than 13, 000 National Identity Cards (IDs) have remained uncollected at various offices of registration of persons within Murang’a County.
Among the IDs, 5, 729 are new applications while 7, 574 are duplicate/replacement among other categories.
The county registrar of persons Juliet Mutitu has said some of the uncollected IDs date back to 2010 noting there were possibilities that some of the owners could have passed on before collecting the documents.
The registrar noted that from July 1 to August 31, this year, 3,315 IDs for new applications have been collected.
“Additionally, 2,644 people have registered for Maisha cards within the same period. The process of registering for a Maisha number was slowed by a court order but after conducting public participation as it was required by the law, we are now doing registration for the Maisha card.” she explained.
On the uncollected IDs, Ms Mutitu noted that Murang’a South Sub County is leading with 2,099 IDs for new applications and 2,889 for duplicate and other categories.
“Murang’a South also has the highest population, which is why they are leading in uncollected IDs and new applications as well, with 940 IDs for new applications collected, 273 from other categories,” she added.
To address the issue of uncollected IDs, Mutitu emphasized the efforts made by her office to collaborate with the national government officers, including chiefs and assistant chiefs, to encourage those applying for the IDs to collect them from offices of registration of persons.
“We are also creating awareness during public barazas and providing a free hotline number (0800230007) for people to check the status of their IDs,” she explained, also urging residents to visit Huduma Centers to check the status of their IDs.
Some of the reasons the registrar cited as contributing to the backlog of uncollected IDs include migration of people to other places before their IDs are out, death and even ignorance.
“Applicants move to other areas before collecting their IDs. Others die before they pick them up, while some are simply ignorant or find their lost IDs and no longer see the need to collect duplicates,” she averred.
By Bernard Munyao and Owen Chege
