Leaders ask govt to publish list of uncollected ID

The opposition has intensified pressure on the government to make public a list of all uncollected national identity cards as the countrywide mass voter registration exercise gets under way across the country.

Opposition parties fear that the uncollected IDs may not reach the applicants and is demanding accountability about the documents and any processes put in place by the government to deliver them to individuals.

Both the Amani National Congress (ANC) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) on Tuesday expressed fears that the IDs could be selectively distributed to applicants, insisting that publishing a list of the uncollected documents and sharing it widely at the grassroots and with political parties would be the only reassurance of honesty in the exercise.

ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi said any arrangements by the government to use local administrators to deliver the uncollected documents to applicants must be done uniformly.

“The assumption is that the IDs will get to the right people. But there are pros and cons in delivering the documents.

"There are inherent risks, especially where crime levels are high. What happens if the chiefs carrying the documents are attacked and mugged,” he posed.

Contacted for comment separately, ANC Secretary-General Godfrey Osotsi said the high number of uncollected IDs is worrying.

“Nine million who are not voters should be a cause of concern. That election cannot be credible with nine million voters being unable to vote.

“We are aware of the plan by Jubilee to use the uncollected IDs to register voters in their strongholds, to show that they have higher numbers,” he claimed.

He claimed that according to the IEBC, central Kenya has about one million voters. “But Moses Kuria was talking about three million, so where is the excess coming from?

ODM Secretary for Political Affairs Opiyo Wandayi and Nakuru County youth leader Hilton Abiola said uncollected IDs should be delivered to their owners across the country.

Mr Abiola questioned why the directive had been issued only in the Rift Valley region and not in other parts of the country.

On Tuesday, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Wanyama Musiambo directed chiefs and their assistants to pick up uncollected IDs from Huduma centres and use motorcycles to deliver them to owners.

He advised chiefs to trace the owners by working closely with the Nyumba Kumi initiative leaders and village elders.