National Assembly Leader of Majority Aden Duale has urged the government to stop vetting residents of Garissa and Wajir before issuing them with identity cards.
According to Duale, the residents of these areas are Kenyans and they are entitled to identity cards.
He called upon the government to issue the residents of these counties with the identification documents to make their life simple.
He noted that over 8,000 Kenyans residing in North Eastern cannot apply for Identification cards because of their refugee status.
He noted that a section of the youths from Garissa and Wajir counties have been denied the right to be citizens of the nation because their names are still in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) database.
He asked Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery to put in place a commission in the next one month to ensure that the youths in the areas affected are issued with identity cards as soon as possible.
“This process is unfair for indigenous Kenyans who all they want is to be recognised by their government so that they can enjoy the same rights as other citizens,” he said.
He pointed out that despite terrorists using identities to commit criminal activities, the government should not deny them an opportunity to be Kenyans.
“We know terrorists use IDs and passports to carry out their ill activities and that warranted the process. Unfortunately, even some government officials are using the excuse to get bribes from desperate individuals,” he said.