NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 16 – Civil society organizations have accused the government of failing to honor its promise to abolish discriminatory vetting practices in the issuance of national identity cards.

The lobby groups argue that dspite policy pronouncements and executive orders millions of Kenyans—mainly from minority ethnic and religious groups have remained locked out of legal identity.

In a joint statement issued on National Identity Day, the groups said that despite Kenya’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, which calls for legal identity for all by 2030, systemic injustices in the ID application process continue to undermine the right to citizenship.

Earlier this year, the government declared ID vetting unconstitutional and announced new reforms to streamline registration.

However, six months later, civil society groups argue that the new guidelines introduced by the Ministry of Interior have only repackaged vetting under a different name.

“Yet, despite this pledge, government practices in citizenship documentation processes actively undermine this commitment through discriminatory ID vetting, entrenched corruption and other systemic issues that block Kenyan citizens from accessing IDs,” the rights groups said.

According to the statement, the revised process still requires applicants to provide multiple layers of verification, including birth certificates, parents’ ID cards, letters and thumbprints from chiefs, personal appearances by parents to endorse applications, and additional reviews by security agencies such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

“Every aspect of the new ID rules contains extremely concerning provisions that mirror the old vetting,” the groups said.

“The additional requirements merely disguise vetting into a series of bureaucratic steps that perpetuate arbitrary denials, delays, and discrimination.”

They noted that these measures disproportionately affect Muslim communities, Nubians, pastoralists, and other minority groups, effectively creating a two-tiered system of citizenship documentation contrary to the Constitution.

The statement also highlighted challenges such as widespread corruption, inconsistent application fees, long distances to registration offices, and severe delays that often stretch for months or years, leaving applicants in limbo without valid identification.

The organizations—among them the Nubian Rights Forum, Haki na Sheria Initiative, Namati Kenya, Haki Center, Pastoralists Rights and Advocacy Network (PARANET), and Pastoralists Women for Health and Education (PWHE)—outlined several urgent reforms for the government, including enforcing a complete end to ID vetting and standardizing application requirements nationwide.

The groups also called for the expansion and resourcing registration offices, especially in marginalized regions and amendment or repealing laws that provide a legal basis for vetting.

“Kenya’s Constitution does not permit a two-tiered system where different ID standards are applied based on ethnicity or religion,” the groups stressed.

“We urge the government to address this long-standing injustice and guarantee equal, non-discriminatory access to citizenship documents for all Kenyans.”

The groups called on the state to seize the opportunity presented by National Identity Day to turn its policy pledges into meaningful action that ensures every Kenyan enjoys the right to legal identity.