The Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons in Moyale county has been directed to vet applicants for national ID cards within two weeks.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said on Friday the IDs should be processed and issued to the applicants within a week after approval by the vetting panel.
"It should not happen in this era that young people wait for national IDs for two to three years. It can't be some citizens wait for just a week while others wait for two to three years," Kindiki said.
He spoke on Friday in Moyale county on the second day of his tour of Northeastern where he is assessing the security situation.
Residents in the border counties are normally vetted to prove whether they are Kenyans or foreigners who managed to sneak into the country from their mother countries.
The vetting process is usually very tedious. Parents’ and grandparents’ birth certificates are required as proof of citizenship.
But Kindiki said the vetting process should be expedited going forward and the ID cards issued within three weeks from the day of application.
"Within 21 days after an application has been lodged, the vetting process must not take more than two weeks and also the issuance of the ID after the recommendation has been done must not take more than seven days," Kindiki said.
