MPs back enhanced budget propoals for school-based ID registration drive

A Parliamentary committee has backed a proposal seeking to boost funding for the national identification card-drive targeting secondary schools.

Members of the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriation Committee said the initiative will fast-track the issuance of national IDs to students reaching 18 years, easing future voter and service registration.

Baringo Woman representative Florence Jematiah proposed further amendments to have the students also issued with a voter card at the same time, to reduce costs.

“To cure the low registration of voters, why don’t you propose to synchronise issuance of IDs to students and registration as voters?” posed Jematiah.

The lawmakers were speaking on Tuesday when they were considering the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill, 2024, sponsored by Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia.

Muhia’s proposal seeks to amend the Registration of Persons Act, Cap 107 by introducing new requirements specifically for the registration of pupils who turn 18 years while still enrolled in school.

Under the proposed amendment, schools will be required to register any pupil who reaches the age of 18 within 30 days of their birthday.

If passed, the government will spend Sh451.5 million in the first year of implementation, Sh474.1 million in the second year and Sh497.9 million in the third year.

The enhanced budget will enable mobile registration units to be deployed in secondary schools across the country, a move MPs hailed as key to improving youth documentation and national planning.

“Registering students for national IDs helps in accurate population data collection, which is vital for national planning and resource allocation. It aids the government in tracking demographic trends, ensuring that resources for education, healthcare and other services are allocated efficiently,” Wanjiku noted.

“This registration process can also improve security, as it allows for better monitoring and identification of individuals, reducing the risk of identity fraud or misuse. Overall, it contributes to a more organised and secure society, where individuals are accounted for and can fully participate in national development.”

Wanjiku argued that whereas the registration of students is currently an undertaking of the National Registration Bureau, it is underfunded.

“It is observed that currently the county registration officers do extend such services of registering students in schools though under strained financial resources due to limited funding of the National Registration Bureau,” she stated.

The committee chaired by Alego Usonga MP Sam Atandi heard that currently, County Registration Bureaus receive a paltry Sh100,000 per quarter to facilitate the exercise.

If the Bill is passed, the government will spend approximately half a billion to enhance the operations of the National Registration Bureau Field Services.

The cost includes mainly facilitation for NRB’s staff to visit each school on a monthly basis for the purpose of registering 18-year-old students.

There are 10,752 secondary schools in Kenya, with the bureau required to deploy two officers to each school monthly to enable the registration of the students.

According to the plan, each member of staff will be facilitated at Sh3,000 for the one-day exercise to cater for lunch, transport and other subsistence costs.

Atandi, while giving the nod to the proposal, said it will now be subjected to other parliamentary processes in line with the law.

“Ours as a committee was to check whether it was a Money Bill and it has passed that criteria. The Bill will now undergo the normal Parliamentary processes as others when being considered by the House,” Atandi noted.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

A school-based ID registration drive is a government initiative, primarily in Kenya, where the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Immigration Department, registers eligible secondary school students (aged 18 and above) for national identity cards directly at their schools.