The Jubilee administration should ensure sanity in national identification cards issuance, says Mavoko MP Patrick Makau.
Speaking in an Athi River town Church on Sunday, Makau said the government was biased in issuing the document.
“It is frustrating that the government never listens to our calls as leaders for equity in national identification cards distribution across the country, we will not tire to agitate for sanity in the exercise,” said Makau.
Makau accused the state of withholding identification cards for applicants from Cord coalition’s strongholds.
He said there were lots of unnecessary delays in processing national identification cards belonging to supporters of the coalition in Pro-Cord constituencies and counties.
“The rates of biasness in the IDs issuance is increasingly worrying as we move closer to the 2017 elections, we will not tolerate this. It is unacceptable,” said Makau.
Makau said majority of the youth from Mavoko Sub County whose identification cards had delayed were suffering because their lives had stalled for failure to secure the document.
He said the Jubilee administration is gambling with the lives of youths since they cannot get access to jobs, credit facilities and loans from banks, admission in colleges, public funds like Uwezo and Youth Enterprise Development Funds and MPesa services without the national identification card.
“What can a young Kenyan do in this 21st century without a national identification card, it is incredible,” said Makau.
Makau said such youths could not even open bank and MPESA accounts to engage in business transactions.
“There is a scheme by the Jubilee administration to withhold IDs of Cord coalition supporters so as to frustrate efforts of ensuring the majority register as voters in readiness for the 2017 elections, it is by design and not default,” said Makau.
“It is hurting to see youths from Mavoko Sub County suffer on streets as they keep checking for their IDs at the Athi River’s Registrar of Persons office for months before receiving the document while in counties within Central Kenya region, IDs come out within one week,” said Makau.
Makau claimed children from Kiambu County were on contrary issued with national identification cards in schools using their travel passports.
He said it was a plot by the Jubilee administration to pre-rig the forthcoming polls.
Makau said the documents’ delay had denied the applicants whose majority was the youth their democratic right to register as voters in the recently concluded mass voter registration exercise.
“Delaying ID cards means delaying voter registration,” said Makau.
Makau said the government should stop being biased in the document’s issuance and immediately release identification cards belonging to the youths that it had withheld.