Murkomen hints at new immigration reforms after abolishing ID fees
By Mustafa Juma, January 12, 2026Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has signalled a new wave of immigration and citizen services reforms after the government rolled out landmark changes that abolished fees for first-time national identity card applicants and fast-tracked the issuance of IDs and passports.
Taking to his official X account on Monday, January 12, 2026, Murkomen said the government is consolidating recent gains in the immigration sector while preparing additional reforms aimed at improving efficiency, accessibility, and service delivery for Kenyans.
The Interior CS revealed that he had held a high-level meeting with Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services Belio Kipsang and heads of directorates within the State Department to review progress and map out the next phase of reforms.
“Together with PS Dr Belio Kipsang, this morning I met with Heads of Directorates in the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services to discuss ways of consolidating our gains and rolling out more reforms in the sector,” Murkomen stated.
“The government has already abolished all fees for first-time ID applicants, removed the extra vetting requirement for ID applicants in border counties without compromising security, and fast-tracked the issuance of IDs and passports.”
Changes already effected by govt
Murkomen highlighted a series of changes already effected by the government, describing them as part of a deliberate effort to remove financial and bureaucratic barriers that have historically locked out many Kenyans from accessing identification documents.
“Other reforms include the scrapping of fees for authenticating birth certificates when applying for IDs and passports, and a waiver for charges on duplicate IDs,” he wrote on X.
More changes on the way
While Murkomen did not disclose specific details of the upcoming reforms, he hinted that more policy and operational changes are in the pipeline, signalling a broader shake-up of how immigration and citizen services are delivered.
“More changes are lined up to facilitate more efficient service delivery to the public,” he noted.
The reforms come amid growing public pressure for faster, cheaper, and more transparent access to identification documents, which are critical for employment, education, voting, banking, and access to government services.