Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced that the enhanced registration of persons and the accelerated issuance of national IDs under the ongoing Jukwaa la Usalama programme is yielding positive results.
Speaking in Kericho on Thursday, Murkomen said the government launched the initiative to ensure all eligible citizens can access essential government services through the timely issuance of national IDs.
He highlighted the success of the programme in Kericho County, where the Registrar of Persons registered 25,000 first-time ID applicants, well above the initial target of 18,000.
"I urge all Kenyans who have reached the age of 18 to come forward and register for their national identity cards," Murkomen said.
He emphasised that the national ID is a vital document required to access key government services as Taifa Care through the Social Health Authority (SHA) and the Affordable Housing Programme.
“We have 22 ID registration centres, and while we have exceeded our targets over the past year, there are still many who need to collect their IDs. It is essential because the ID is linked to SHA, the Affordable Housing Programme, and many other ongoing initiatives,” he added.
According to Murkomen, in 2024, the target was about 18,000 but was surpassed by registering 25, 000 people.
He said this year the target is 24,000, adding that the government expects to surpass the target.
“We have enhanced our registration programmes. This is a more settled county so the challenge of mobile registration is not a big deal here, and as I told you, we have 22 registration centres, which is beyond the seven sub-counties,” he added.
Murkomen said the government has deployed sufficient infrastructure and personnel to ensure that the enhanced registration exercise runs smoothly.
“We just want to encourage the people of Kericho to come out and register, take their national identity cards because this is extremely important for them to get government services at various levels at various levels including medical services through SHA,” he stated.
According to the CS, the Jukwaa la Usalama had given government officers, especially in the security and administration sector a new impetus, noting that the majority of them were now discharging their duties with a lot of enthusiasm.
He further stated that Jukwaa la Usalama is a platform for government officers to interact with the people in the grassroots, listen and offer solutions to whatever challenges they are facing.
The objective of the Jukwaa la Usalama, he said, is to assess the security situation, engage leaders, security teams, National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs) and peace committees on strategies to enhance security, peace and cohesion.
It also presents an opportunity for the government to get feedback directly from the people on government services among others.
Kericho was the 25th county to host the Jukwaa la Usalama caravan yesterday. “We are also getting feedback about government projects in the area, happy to note that the planned government projects are on,” Murkomen said.
“Whether it is housing, whether it is sports facilities like the stadium that still needs a bit of work to be done and some of the feed back we are going to take back to different ministries including the planned road projects across this county including those that need to be maintained that pose challenges related to road accidents among others.”
"All these projects, we have been given a brief by our team and we will report to various ministries, but also during the Jukwaa la Usalama, we will update the public on the progress that has been made in so far as these projects are concerned, he said.
At the same time, CS Murkomen said that Jukwaa la Usalama was already shaping government policy adding that a national report will be developed once all the 47 counties are covered.
