The government has announced that Kenyans will now receive new Identification cards within ten days after application starting next month.

According to Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, the government shortened the time after installing live capture equipment in all Huduma Centers and National Registration Bureau (NRB) county offices countrywide.

Speaking in Machakos, he revealed that the two new, higher-capacity printers the government recently purchased for the National Registration Bureau (NRB) will help expedite the processing time for identity cards.

 “It will now take you not more than ten working days from the date of application down from at least 21 days to get your ID. We want Kenyans to acquire their IDs as quickly and conveniently as possible.”

Further, PS Bitok noted that the county leads with at least 32,000 youth-eligible ID registration applicants.

He also boasts birth and death registration rates of 78 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

“The Machakos event was marked with on-spot registration for IDs, birth certificates, certificates of good conduct among other documents. The choice of Machakos as a venue for this year’s festivities was informed by a high number of eligible ID registration applicants with at least 32,000 youth deemed due for registration.”

Similarly, Bitok disclosed that to facilitate access to passports and other travel papers, the government is considering establishing a new Immigration office in the county.

Machakos Member of Parliament Caleb Mule also appealed to the government to open more NRB and the Civil Registration Services (CRS) offices to spare residents from traveling long distances in search of services.

“Our citizens are commuting long distances in search of identity documents. For instance residents of Machakos, Makueni, Kajiado and Kitui counties currently face the burden of travelling to Embu or Nairobi for passports which is costly and time consuming.”