{"id":130056,"date":"2026-02-05T15:02:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/civil-society-coalition-calls-on-govt-to-permanently-abolish-id-vetting-law\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:02:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:02:47","slug":"civil-society-coalition-calls-on-govt-to-permanently-abolish-id-vetting-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/civil-society-coalition-calls-on-govt-to-permanently-abolish-id-vetting-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil society coalition calls on govt to permanently abolish ID vetting law"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 5 \u2014 A coalition of five civil society organizations and human rights groups has called on the review of the Registration of Persons Act to permanently outlaw the controversial vetting process in national ID issuance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coalition warned that millions of Kenyans remain excluded from citizenship documentation despite reforms introduced last year.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement marking one year since a presidential decree abolished ID vetting, the groups acknowledged progress in speeding up processing and removing bureaucratic barriers but argued that the legal framework still allows future governments to quietly reintroduce discriminatory practices.<\/p>\n

The coalition \u2014 Nubian Rights Forum, Namati Kenya, Haki Centre, Pastoralists Rights and Advocacy Network (ParaNET), and Haki na Sheria Initiative \u2014 is demanding the deletion of Section 8(1a) and Section 16(ba) of the Registration of Persons Act to formally anchor the decree in law.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbolishing vetting was an important first step in restoring constitutionally guaranteed citizenship rights, but it did not remedy the historical legacy of exclusion,\u201d the organizations said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Kenyan citizens are still carrying \u2018waiting cards\u2019 that have expired, or worse, have no documents at all because they were turned away for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Systemic barriers <\/h2>\n

The groups acknowledged what they termed \u201cmonumental and necessary\u201d steps by the government over the past year, including disbanding vetting committees, rolling out new ID registration guidelines, and waiving fees for first-time applicants. These changes have benefited many new applicants.<\/p>\n

However, they argue that those historically denied IDs \u2014 often on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or place of residence \u2014 still face systemic barriers. Entire families remain undocumented because parents previously denied IDs could not secure birth certificates for their children, creating what activists describe as an intergenerational documentation crisis.<\/p>\n

They cited the case of Adan Ibrahim, 47, from Bula Elbe in Wajir County, who reportedly lost his waiting card in 1997 and has been unable to obtain a replacement ID despite multiple attempts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout affirmative action measures, these citizens remain trapped in limbo, passing undocumented status to younger generations,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

The groups also reported inconsistencies in the application of the guidlines alleging that some registration officers continue subjecting applicants to extra scrutiny resembling the old vetting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis effectively keeps vetting alive in practice, even if it has ended in policy,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The coalition urged the government to adopt a broader inclusion strategy, including establishing independent grievance and appeal mechanisms for delayed or rejected applications and implementing affirmative action measures for historically excluded and undocumented citizens.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 5 \u2014 A coalition of five civil society organizations and human rights groups has called on the review of the Registration of Persons Act to permanently outlaw the controversial vetting process in national ID issuance. The coalition warned that millions of Kenyans remain excluded from citizenship documentation despite reforms introduced last year. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}