Haki Centre, Nubian Rights Forum and Haki na Sheria Initiative complain that though President William Ruto dissolved the ID vetting committees, the new guidelines replicate the very problem that was to be solved by doing way with the panels.
The President had ordered the committees would be dissolved by May 1 and fresh guidelines issued to simplify getting an ID.
The new guidelines were given by the Interior ministry on April 29.
They require ID applicants in border and cosmopolitan areas to provide proof of name, age and citizenship, which could be a birth certificate and parent's ID card, among other options.
The documents provided are then subjected to verification by the government.
The guidelines further require an introductory letter from the local chief, the applicant’s parent to appear in person to put their thumbprint on the form, the chief to re-verify the applicant, and the list of applicants to be passed through NIS and DCI.
The lobbies now complain that the processes are unnecessarily lengthy and replace the defunct verification committees that were blamed for wielding arbitrary powers in determining whether applicants at the borders got the document.
“It is not clear why after an applicant provides genuine, government-issued documents to support his or her application - the same requirement for Kenyans elsewhere in the country - that there should be any need for further verification steps,” they said.
“Vesting such power in chiefs and security agencies such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the National Intelligence Service in ID application processes replicates current vetting practices.”
They add: “The new guidelines risk replacing the vetting committee with a process that devolves vetting into a series of steps with the same government departments, opening opportunities for continued arbitrary questions, requests, and denials - just as occurred with vetting committees.”
They say the guidelines, as currently issued, will not guarantee lasting protections for communities who have faced discrimination and have been locked in an ongoing struggle to acquire nationality documentation.
Further, the agitators say the new regulations burden chiefs and assistant chiefs with significant personal liability where undeserving persons end up acquiring ID cards and this puts a lot of undue pressure on the grassroots administrators. This might lead to arbitrary denials even where an applicant has provided the necessary documentation.
The new guidelines do not address access to identification for millions of Kenyans who currently lack documents due to the historical injustice of vetting, the NGOs said.
As remedy, the lobbies demand an end to any form of ID vetting and differential treatment of the applicants coming from different parts of the country.
Also, the government should ground the process of acquiring identification in legislation and eliminate discretionary powers to trigger ad hoc investigations or review committees.
For applicants providing the required documents to prove their names, age and citizenship, there should be no costs attached to them and the ID cards be issued without delay or extra steps.
“[The state should also] implement affirmative action measures to issue identification to all Kenyans, especially those previously excluded from accessing documents due to the historical existence of discriminatory vetting,” the lobbies said.
