ODM leader Raila Odinga has defended President William Ruto’s decision to remove vetting requirement for issuance of identification cards for Somali and communities living in border counties.
Speaking during Iftar dinner Wednesday evening, the former Prime Minister who joined Muslim faithful in breaking the fast, castigated those opposing the broad-based government saying they are against a peaceful and a united Kenya.
Raila’s sentiments come after the Interior Ministry removed the fee of Kenyans applying for their national identity cards for the first time.
In a gazette notice dated March 19, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen announced the removal of the Ksh 300 fee for first-time applicants in a bid to ease access to the critical identification document.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 16 of the Registration of Persons Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration makes the following rules – The Sixth Schedule to the Registration of Persons Rules is amended by deleting the expression “KSh. 300” appearing as fees for the item “Not Previously Registered (NPR)” and substituting therefor the expression “Nil”,” reads the notice.
The CS also scrapped Ksh 500 vetting fee for both IDs and passports.
This follows a directive by President William Ruto, who, while speaking in Kibera last week, ordered that first-time applicants should not be subjected to any fee and would only need to present their birth certificates and their parents’ identification documents.
