Interior CS meets Immigration and Citizen Services heads to consolidate gains, fast-track documentation and enhance public service delivery nationwide.
The government has stepped up efforts to reform immigration and citizen registration services, with senior officials meeting to consolidate recent gains and roll out additional measures aimed at improving service delivery to the public.
The meeting, held this morning, brought together the leadership of the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, chaired alongside Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang, and attended by heads of key directorates and senior government officials.
Discussions focused on strengthening ongoing reforms that have seen the abolition of fees for first-time national identity card applicants, removal of extra vetting requirements for applicants in border counties, and the fast-tracking of ID and passport issuance, without compromising national security.
Officials also reviewed progress on additional policy changes, including the scrapping of fees for authenticating birth certificates when applying for identity cards and passports, as well as a waiver of charges for duplicate IDs, moves intended to reduce the cost burden on citizens and eliminate bureaucratic delays.
The government noted that these reforms are part of a broader agenda to modernise public services, enhance efficiency and ensure equitable access to critical documentation across the country, particularly for marginalised communities.
Further changes are expected in the coming months, with an emphasis on digitisation, process simplification and improved coordination among agencies, largely anchored on the eCitizen platform.
Among those present at the meeting were National Registration Bureau Secretary Dr Christopher Wanjau, Civil Registration Secretary Paul Mwangemi, eCitizen Services Director-General Ambassador Isaac Ochieng, Immigration Services Director-General Evelyn Cheluget, Nairobi Regional Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo, Commissioner for Refugee Affairs Mercy Mwasaru, and Secretary Administration Serser Chelulei, alongside other senior government officials.
By Amos Murumba
