Monica Njeri Wanjiku 34, from Nakuru town is one of the many people who might miss out in the Mass voter registration exercise that is almost coming to an end,this is due to bureaucracy associated with the process of acquiring a National Identity card.
According to sources, Njeri has been to the Nakuru office of the National Registration Bureau for more than six times but she is yet to acquire an ID.
Addressing media in Nakuru, Njeri who is an orphan said that at first she was required to bring with her a letter from the chief and a copy of her school leaving certificate which she did but failed to be registered as she was asked to bring her parents particulars which she lacks.
“There is so much bureaucracy at the registrar offices in Nakuru and I cannot get ID.At the age of 18 I could not manage to acquire an ID because my parents were not available to give me copies of their identification cards” she said.
Njeri added that this has hindered her from doing many things including starting up any business because she has no ID as it is a requirement in order for one to be issued with a single business permit.
Not only that, but the helpless orphan cannot register a sim card in her name for lack of the same.
With all the above, it sums up that she will not be able to participate in the August 8th polls that has made her make a special appeal to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and have her issued with an identification card in the shortest time possible so that she can participate in her first election exercise.
But Njeri is not the only one as one Boniface Chege Mwangi is another victim of the bureaucracy at the National Registration Bureau.
Mwangi says in 2015,he applied for change of particulars in his ID which previously read Boniface Chege Mwangi and wanted it to read Noor Ibrahim Boniface but to date he is yet to be issued with a new ID.
But for Chege, the story is slightly different since he met all the requirements including swearing an affidavit, attaching a certified copy of his birth certificate, paying the requisite Shs 1000 and attaching a copy of his ID has had his application rejected on three occasions.
Despite being issued with an application acknowledgement note dated 21st May 2015 at the Nakuru office, Chege is yet to receive his ID.
He says of late he was informed that the application was rejected because he did not attach a copy of his academic certificate and letter from the department of civil registration.
He however, questioned why he would be required to attach a letter from the department of civil registration yet he had attached a certified copy of his birth certificate approved by the same department.
According to Lydiah Mwangi – a relative to Chege,it was disappointing that his nephew will not be able to vote owing to a failure on the side of the department of national registration.
These are just two of the many Kenyans who might not vote in August due to bureaucracy associated with the process of acquiring a National Identity card.
This comes despite the President giving a directive that IDs should be issued within 3 days after application.
A senior officer from the Nakuru office National Registration Bureau declined to comment on the two matters.
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