Koech Shifts ID Scandal Blame to Uhuru Era as Foreign Nationals Row Deepens

Belgut Member of Parliament Nelson Koech has sought to distance the current administration from allegations that foreign nationals acquired Kenyan identification documents irregularly, saying the IDs at the centre of the controversy were issued during the previous government.

Speaking on Citizen TV's Day Break programme on Monday, Koech said preliminary investigations indicate that the questioned identity cards were processed in 2022 under former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration when Fred Matiang'i served as Interior Cabinet Secretary.

"We went further and looked into the identification cards they claimed to be illegally acquired. The IDs were issued in the year 2022 when Fred Matiang'i was the Cabinet Secretary and Uhuru Kenyatta was the President," said Koech.

The legislator, who chairs the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations, was responding to growing concerns over claims that foreign nationals obtained Kenyan identity documents without undergoing the required vetting procedures.

Koech argued that the controversy raises questions about the integrity of the initial registration process rather than the subsequent issuance of passports.

He noted that once an individual is lawfully issued with a Kenyan identity card, immigration authorities would have little basis to deny them a passport.

"If the National Intelligence Service, then in 2022, found it proper to issue an ID to these individuals, what would deny the Director of Immigration? What would they use to deny the same person an opportunity to own a passport? There is no reason whatsoever," he said.

His remarks follow an exposé by The Standard newspaper alleging that foreign nationals from neighbouring countries, including Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, acquired Kenyan identity cards through corrupt networks involving public officials.

According to the report, some individuals allegedly obtained the documents for as little as Sh15,000 through bribery schemes linked to officers in the Immigration Department and the National Registration Bureau.

The exposé further claimed that the documents were issued without adequate scrutiny, verification or vetting, raising fresh concerns about vulnerabilities within Kenya's identification and immigration systems.

As the debate intensifies, attention is increasingly shifting from the issuance of passports to the integrity of the national registration process, with calls mounting for a thorough investigation to establish accountability and prevent future abuses.