Makonde won't be issued with national IDs at the moment, says registrar

What you need to know:

  • Makonde say they settled in Kenya in 1967.
  • Aggrey Masai, chief registrar of persons in charge of coast, says government "cannot just register people" and what it does must be legal.

A group that originated from Mozambique and now lives in Kwale will not be issued with national identity cards at the moment.

Coast regional registrar of persons Aggrey Masai told the Makonde, who maintain that they settled in Kenya in 1967, that they would first be issued with certificates of citizenship, usually given to foreigners.

“The government cannot just register people,” Mr Masai said in an interview with the Nation on Tuesday.

“What it does must be legal so that it cannot be challenged by anybody anywhere. The (Interior and Coordination of National Government) Cabinet Secretary (Joseph ole Nkaissery) needs to have the backing of the entire Cabinet to be able to register any foreigner,” he added.

He said a census conducted by the government put the number of the Makonde people at 2,470, and not the 10,000 they have indicated.

“The number went down from the reported 10,000 when our team went to the ground and found that many had intermarried with Kenyans, and had automatically qualified to get Kenya ID cards,” he said.

About 300 Makonde, joined by others who came from Pemba and Burundi, on Monday started a march to Nairobi, saying they were heading to State House to seek audience with President Uhuru Kenyatta, whom they were hoping would help them get registered as Kenyan citizens.

Supported by the Kenya Human Rights Commission director George Kegoro, and other activists, the group started its journey in a procession from Kwale and was later driven in nine buses to Mombasa.

On Monday, Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa intercepted them at Kombani, Maganyakulo and Ng’ombeni. He asked the group to cut short its journey and return to Kwale to “patiently” wait for word from the government.

However, they would hear none of that, arguing that the matter had not been addressed for a very long time.