A local news portal has cited a government official as confirming that new national ID cards to be issued by the Department of Immigration will henceforth expire after every ten years.
According to reports, the magazine was informed by an unidentified Ministry of Interior official that the microchip implanted in the ID card has been programmed by the ID issuing authority to have a ten-year validity span from the date of issue.
Netizens have now shared their concerns about the new way that is set to be introduced soon as an inconvenience that will cost many and an irrelevant one.
Aside from the delays that the netizens are going through waiting for their IDs to be released, a new motion in line says that they might just be renewing them after 10 years.
Apparently, without an identification card, you cannot apply for a job. You cannot register your SIM card, and neither can you get other benefits that come with the ID, such as traveling out of the country and processing other things.
The configuration of the microchip to expire within a period of time, the source said, is part of the security exigency for credentials embedded with microchips, adding that “it’s a global practice that is not just in Kenya.”
Kenya’s plan to introduce an expiration date to its national ID card comes a year after its southern neighbour Tanzania did away with it.
At the close of last year, Kenya’s government announced a plan to increase fees for obtaining or renewing some identity credentials, including national ID cards, birth certificates, work permits, and passports, just to mention a few.
The intended revised charges, fees, and levies are informed by the need for Kenya’s self-reliance in financing the national budget to wean the country from unsustainable debt that poses grave threats to our sovereignty and the dignity of future generations.
“The new intended charges, fees, and levies have been adjusted to accommodate the views of the public already received following the publication of the revoked Gazette Notices.” Part of the Gazette notice read:
