Mwaura defends increase of passport, IDs service fees
Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura addresses journalists at his office on Wednesday, November 15.
What you need to know:
- This charge is nothing new, it has been there for decades. The last time the prices were revised however was in the early 1990’s, yet so much has changed since then.
- We must be ready and willing to help the government deliver these critical services.
The government has defended the State’s decision to increase charges for some of its services, including passports, identity cards, birth and death certificates, and work permit applications.
Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said this was a necessary move for the government to be able to offer these services.
The new fees, which will take effect as of March 1, 2024, will see the new charges ranging from double to ten times or more, from the previous costs.
“This charge is nothing new, it has been there for decades. The last time the prices were revised however was in the early 1990’s, yet so much has changed since then. We must be ready and willing to help the government deliver these critical services. And even with the new charges, the government still caters for a significant portion for production of IDs, for instance,” he said during a press briefing at Konza Technopolis on Thursday, March 7.
In the new rates, the issuance of a new birth certificate will now cost Sh200 instead of Sh50, similar to the issuance of a death certificate. Late registration of a birth certificate will now cost Sh500 up from Sh50, similar to late registration of a death certificate. Amendment fees for both certificates have increased by Sh870 to Sh1,000.
Foreign registration of births and deaths at Kenyan missions abroad will cost US$150, up from US$50.
Replacing an ID card now costs Sh1000. It used to cost Sh100. Changing details remain the same at Sh1000.
The cost of applying for a standard 34-page passport has jumped from Sh4500 to Sh7500.
According to the new rates, a 50-page ordinary passport will now cost applicants Sh9500 from Sh6000, while the application fee for a 66-page ordinary passport has shot up from Sh7500 to Sh12500.
At the same time, the cost of a 50-page diplomatic passport has doubled to Sh15000, while the price of a 34-page service passport remains unchanged at Sh6000.
Replacing a lost passport will cost Sh20,000, up from Sh12,000, while replacing a mutilated passport will double from Sh10,000 to Sh20,000.
Additionally, he acknowledged the persistent challenges at Nyayo House, calling the cases of bribery and corruption within the premises “an open secret”.
“Our passports are printed outside the country, with only the bio page and the lamination done within the country. This has proven a challenge due to the high number of applicants there are, especially for the 34-page passports. Plans are underway however to build capacity for local production, and Sh400 million of the required Sh3 billion has already been set aside for this.”
Mr Mwaura also noted in his address that the Kenya Kwanza government is keen on expanding internet coverage and bridge the digital gap through the Last Mile County Connectivity. The project which was started in 2011 is funded through a loan agreement between Kenya and the Kingdom of Belgium.
“The project’s aim is to connect County and National Government Offices in all the 47 counties with telephony service complete with headsets, video conferencing applications and internet service. This has been made possible by the connection of different governmental buildings in the counties with the National Fibre Bone Optic Infrastructure (NOFBI) linking them to the Ministries in Nairobi, using wired and wireless mediums.”
Mr Mwaura hailed Kenya as Africa’s digital hub, noting that the country had made a successful bid to host the global conference on connected Africa in April 2024, Data protection conference in May 2024 and International Association of Science Park (IASP) in September.
“Taking full advantage of the digital revolution will not only help us grow into a middle-income economy, but also create employment for our youth. This is why we are committed to strengthening the Konza Technopolis to bring together industry, academic institutions and other innovators to co-invest in emerging technologies.”
Mr Mwaura states that as a hub, the technopolis is providing the impetus the country needs to accelerate its development in the Digital era. For example, Konza Cloud is providing cutting edge solutions and enabling innovators, start-ups and enterprises to reap the benefits of technology solutions’ ability to scale the marketplace, improve efficiencies and deliver services and solutions to people.
“The hub is providing some of the 14,000 digitised solutions for government services. It is also connected to 100 innovation hubs, and will be a major catalyst for the success of the government’s Jitume Programme which seeks to provide the youth with digital skills and help them tap into the potential of the online world.”
Also speaking about counties revenue allocation in his address, Mr Mwaura said that through the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill (National Assembly bill no. 23 of 2023), counties would be receiving an additional Sh46 billion for the 2023/2024 financial year.
“Sh10billion of this is an additional allocation from the National Government’s share of revenue, and will be used for implementation of key projects such as provision of fertiliser subsidies as we approach the long rains season. Ksh 5 billion has been set aside for this programme, and we can already see the impact in the agricultural sector. The sector grew by 6.1 percent in the first quarter, 8.2 percent in the second quarter and 6.7 percent in the third quarter.”
He stated that the Bill has allocated a further Sh4.5 billion Under the County Aggregated Industrial Parks Programme. The amount covers the first phase of the programme being implemented in 18 Counties, with each of them being allocated Ksh 250 million.
“The Bill has also set aside and allocated Sh50 million to the counties of Isiolo, Lamu, Tana River, Nyandarua and Tharaka Nithi to help finish construction works for the counties’ headquarters. The five counties have been considered because they did not inherit adequate facilities that could accommodate their new administration at the onset of devolution.”
