Kenyans seeking to replace their national identity cards or update personal details will not pay any fees for the next six months after the government issued a notice waiving the charges.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen Friday, announced the waiver, saying it fulfils President William Ruto’s directive to make national identification more accessible to all citizens.
The waiver contained in a special Gazette Notice applies to all processes involving the replacement of lost or damaged ID cards and the correction or updating of particulars such as names, photo changes, and other biodata adjustments.
Previously, applicants were required to pay set fees for replacements and amendments, a cost many Kenyans cited as a barrier, especially in rural and low-income areas.
“This waiver follows our other reforms, which include free issuance to first-time ID applicants, abolition of the extra-vetting requirement for border counties, and the scrapping of authentication fees for birth certificates when applying for IDs and passports,” Murkomen said in a statement.
He said the move is part of the government’s commitment to ensure every Kenyan can obtain and maintain a valid national ID card, a key document needed to access public services, government programmes, financial services, SIM registration, and employment opportunities.
While speaking in Vihiga recently, Ruto said the government would temporarily suspend the Sh1,000 replacement fee, acknowledging that many Kenyans had been locked out of voter registration due to financial constraints.
In 2023, the government announced plans to raise the fees for applying for a new ID card and replacing a lost one.
In the proposals that were later reversed, Kenyans were to pay Sh300 for new ID applications, a fee that was initially set to rise to Sh1,000.
There was also a plan to increase the replacement fee to Sh2,000, later reduced to Sh1,000 following public outcry.
The CS urged members of the public to take advantage of the window period to update their details or replace lost documents.
“We encourage Kenyans to visit registration offices and benefit from this waiver. A national ID is fundamental for participation in economic, social, and political life, and no eligible Kenyan should be left behind due to costs,” he said.
The announcement comes amid a series of identity management reforms under the Ruto administration aimed at modernising citizen registration and cleaning up the national registry.
Apart from eliminating vetting for communities living in border counties, a long-standing grievance for residents who often felt profiled or discriminated against, the government has also digitised several civil registration processes and rolled out electronic ID systems.
The waiver takes effect immediately upon publication of the gazette notice.
