Ruto: Kenyan IDs will only be issued to legitimate citizens
By Ndiritu Wanjiru, June 1, 2026President William Ruto has stated that the government’s new rules on national identity cards do not mean there is a ban on verification of citizenship, but only those of Kenyan citizens will be issued.
The President, on Monday, June 1, 2026, while marking Madaraka Day in Wajir County, said the changes championed by his government aimed to remove the decades-long discrimination that had been plaguing residents of northern Kenya and other border counties, not to weaken the rules that protect the citizenship of Nairobi residents.
Ruto said for many years, northern Kenyans have had to contend with needless hurdles while seeking permits for a national identity card when they are born Kenyans.
He gave the example of Bakaja Ibrahim Osman, a resident of Wajir District, who has been subjected to further investigation and requests for additional paperwork every time he tries to get an ID card.
“Every time Osman went to apply for an identity card, he was treated not as a Kenyan but as a suspect, an illegal alien,” Ruto said.
Ruto said that whenever Osman applied for an ID card, he was viewed as an illegal alien rather than a Kenyan.
“Every Kenyan should be treated in the same way, given equal protection, equal dignity, and equal treatment under the law,” he added.
Ruto said in February 2025, during his development visit to Wajir County, he signed a presidential order to rationalise the process of registering and issuing national identity cards and birth certificates in the county and other affected areas in the northern region.
The president said that the declaration would put an end to decades of discriminatory practices that denied many eligible citizens access to key identity documents.
Since the reforms, thousands of young people have been able to obtain national identity cards without having to meet any further conditions, he said.
Among the beneficiaries, Ruto mentioned Abra Abdul Rahman Ali Osman and Mariam Isaac Mohammed, born in 2007 in Wajir County, who have managed to get their IDs after attaining 18.
“They walked away with their national identity cards, without any obstacles, without additional documentation; there was no discrimination, there was no humiliation, just on time, with their rightful documents,” the president said.