Kindiki withdraws the contentious gazette notification about citizen services.
To allow for public input, Interior CS Professor Kithure Kindiki has withdrawn the contentious gazette notice regarding immigration and citizen services.
“It is notified for the general public’s information that the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration’s Special Issue of the Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXV-No.239, dated November 7, 2023, regarding the upward revision of charges, fees, and levies for various services provided by the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, has been revoked in order to allow more public participation on the matter,” reads the notice.
However, the CS has disclosed updated pricing, which will take effect on January 1, 2024, following public comment, which is anticipated to end on December 10, 2023.
“In its place, new anticipated taxes, levies, and charges for the same services have been issued by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, and they will go into effect on January 1, 2024. In any case, public involvement must be conducted and completed by the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services no later than December 10, 2023.
The necessity for Kenya to be self-sufficient in funding the national budget is what motivates the planned revisions to the charges, taxes, and levies.
This is because the country has to wean itself off of unmanageable debt, which seriously jeopardizes our sovereignty and the dignity of future generations.
In response to feedback from the public that was received after the canceled Gazette Notices were published, the new intended charges, fees, and levies have been modified.
“Regarding the specific matter of people who were not previously registered obtaining National Identity Cards, the government would cover the expenses of the updated fees, taxes, and penalties by waiving them for impoverished Kenyans who can prove they are unable to pay,” the CS stated.
Kenyans wishing to change an ID would now pay Ksh 1,000 under the newly amended tariffs, as opposed to Ksh 2,000 as previously announced. Moreover, Kenyans would not be charged anything while submitting a new ID application—in contrast to the Ksh 1,000 suggested price.
People will now pay Sh 300 rather than Sh 1000 for new IDs, and Sh 1000 rather than Sh 2000 will be used as a replacement.