Belgut Member of Parliament Nelson Koech has ignited a fierce political firestorm by claiming that a significant number of identification cards currently flagged as “illegally acquired” by foreign nationals were issued during the tenure of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Koech, who serves as the Chairperson of the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Defense, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations, made the explosive assertion during a media panel discussion on Monday. According to the legislator, his committee conducted an extensive review of the disputed identification documents, tracing their origin to the 2022 calendar year, when Fred Matiang’i served as the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government.
“We went further and looked into the identification cards they claimed to be illegally acquired,” Koech stated during the broadcast. “The IDs were issued in the year 2022 when Fred Matiang’i was the Cabinet Secretary and Uhuru Kenyatta was the President.”
The lawmaker’s comments come amid heightened public scrutiny regarding the vetting processes for national documents. When pressed on how such individuals might then qualify for Kenyan passports, Koech argued that the possession of a government-issued ID creates a legal obligation for the Department of Immigration. He questioned the logic of denying a passport to a holder of a valid Kenyan ID, especially if the National Intelligence Service had already vetted and authorized the issuance of the identification card during the previous administration.
“If the National Intelligence Service, then in 2022, found it proper to issue an ID to these individuals, what would deny the Director of Immigration? What would they use to deny the same person an opportunity to own a passport?” Koech posed.
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