Mandera tightens rules for IDs to be given out

Residents of Mandera county will have to undergo tough vetting and scrutiny to land ID cards.
The registration was stopped in September 2013 as foreigners were colluding with immigration officials to get IDs.
Mandera county commissioner Alex Nkoyo said former committees and government officials sold IDs to foreigners, terming them “greedy and unpatriotic”.
Speaking to the Star in Mandera town yesterday, Nkoyo said cartels and syndicates seek to sell IDs for Sh150,000 each.
“If a member of the vetting committee is found to have issued an ID to non-Kenyan, then he or she will be prosecuted under the new Security Laws with aiding a terrorist,” Nkoyo said.
Applicants must now come with their mothers, fathers or guardians for questions and their left hand thumb prints taken on the application form.
They should provide a birth certificate, notification of birth, clinic card and a school-leaving certificate with a letter from the headteacher.
Chiefs will have to sign the registration form to take responsibility if an applicant is involved in crime.
“We must be patriotic enough to make sure that foreigners do not manipulate this process and jeopardise our securit,” Governor Ali Roba said.
However, county assembly speaker Abdikadir Shiekh said the new conditions will lock out pastoralists who do not have the requirements.
“Let us not rush it. We should ponder on it and get the best possible solution,” he said.
Mandera East MP Abdulaziz Ali said the county has been depicted as the kiosk for IDs and a gateway for terrorists into Kenya.
Source: the-star.co.ke