Why Western Kenya governors want Ruto's ID vetting ban extended to other border counties
President William Ruto.
Governors from border counties in Western Kenya are calling for an extension of President William Ruto's directive to scrap vetting for national identity card applicants beyond the North Eastern region to other frontier counties.
The county leaders argue that this move would benefit Kenyans who have been unable to secure IDs due to stringent vetting requirements.
On Wednesday, President Ruto signed the Presidential Proclamation on Registration and Issuance of IDs to Border Counties at Orahey Grounds in Wajir Town, eliminating the 60-year-old vetting process and easing access to the critical identification document for residents of affected regions.
The decision is widely perceived as a strategic political move to consolidate a new voting bloc ahead of the 2027 General Election.
However, governors from Western Kenya insist their push is solely about ensuring accurate population counts.
The proclamation came shortly after the High Court in Garissa ordered a fresh census for three counties in the North Eastern region.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Nyanza International Investment Conference in Kisumu County, governors Kenneth Lusaka (Bungoma), Dr Paul Otuoma (Busia), and Mr Ochillo Ayacko (Migori) welcomed the decision, saying it would help restore their population numbers.
Mr Ayacko emphasized that proper identification is a fundamental right of every Kenyan.
“Being identified, accounted for, and known to belong to a certain place is a fundamental right of every Kenyan. When your number is not documented, it displaces you,” he said.
He added that Migori has witnessed numerous arrests of individuals who lack identification documents.
“Where I come from in Migori, we have people from the Kuria community and the Luo who are affected by the insistence that vetting must go on. We have young ladies getting married but, for whatever reasons, do not involve their parents. Processing their IDs becomes impossible because local administrators insist on parental presence before registration. There are quite a number of displaced people who are not counted,” Mr Ayacko stated.
He dismissed political interpretations of the initiative, insisting that the issue at hand is about people's right to be counted and share in national resources.
He urged the national government to expedite the deployment of registration officers to ensure all eligible individuals are documented.
The governors pointed out that frontier counties have suffered disadvantages, with millions unable to secure IDs, thereby missing out on voting rights.
They noted a significant disparity between population numbers and registered voters.
For instance, Migori has a population of 1,234,082 but only 469,019 registered voters. Busia has 968,753 residents and 416,756 voters, while Bungoma’s population stands at 1,786,973, with just 646,598 registered voters.
“In Migori, I do not want to imagine that those are the only adults in the county. The issue is IDs, and it impacts opportunities linked to identification. This is not fair by any means,” Mr Ayacko added.
Dr Otuoma lamented that many people in Busia have been denied their Kenyan identity, preventing them from accessing essential services such as opening bank accounts.
“There is a big disparity between the adult population in census figures and the number of registered voters. This begs the question—where do those who attain voting age disappear to?” he said.