MPs call for revocation of Maisha Namba regulations over glaring errors » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 5 – The rollout of Maisha Namba, the new generation identity card is facing a draw back after Members of Parliament pushed for the rescinding of the Registration of Persons (Amendment) rules which anchors it in law.
Members of the delegated legislation committee want the laws quashed due to what they term as substantive errors which cannot be corrected at the committee stage.
In a meeting attended by Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, the committee recommended the revocation of the regulations to ensure their compliance with the law.
“On a number of issues that we have raised which are very substantive a corrigenda may not be sufficient, you may need to republish and revoke what you have already provided, because if we consider it in the manner it is, it might be very difficult to achieve the intended purpose,” committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga stated.
Lawmakers pointed out that regulations which have gone through public participation haven’t mentioned Maisha Namba.
“Maisha card is a very good name, it actually sounds very Kenyan, but where is it in the regulations?” Chepkonga posed.
The Registration of Persons (Amendment) rules, for instance, seeks to reinstate a fee of Sh300 to apply a new Identity Card.
Proposals to increase the fee to Sh300 were shot down and the fee subsequently reduced to Sh50 by previous regimes
PS Bitok however put up a strong defense for the regulation arguing that a wide-reaching public participation was conducted across all the constituencies across the country.
“We went to the field and we did 820 meetings of public participation on this Maisha number, we have the report on what Kenyans said, this is so important for our national security, this ID is secure and temper proof, it’s a very secure card,” he said.
The Registration of Persons (Amendment) rules further seek to prescribe Sh1,000 each to duplicate or replace an ID Card, to alter the particulars of the ID Card to help in curbing fraudulent cases.
The Births and Deaths registration (Amendment) rules proposes Sh1,000 for the registration, re-registration of births and making a correction in a birth or death entry. The services were previously offered free of charge.
There is also a proposal to charge Sh500 for the registration of a birth or death more than six months after the date of birth or death and Sh200 for birth or death certificate.
A further Sh500 is prescribed for authenticating the seal of the principal registrar on any birth or death certificate on application by an individual and a government agency.
“We are charging 1000 for correction of error; this is because there is a lot of attempts to fraudulently change documents, it’s also a national security issue to avoid someone trying to manipulate the system to change their particulars,” PS Bitok expressed.
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