More than 80,000 National Identity Cards remain uncollected across the Nyanza region, raising concern among registration authorities, as the mass voter registration exercise gathers pace.
Nyanza Regional Registration Officer, George Opiyo, said a total of 80,027 IDs had not been picked-up as of April 10, 2026, pointing to a widening gap between registration and collection despite sustained efforts to improve service delivery.
Although there is no single cause for the low uptake, Opiyo attributed the backlog partly to logistical challenges in the processing system.
National Identity Cards are produced centrally in Nairobi, meaning applications collected in the field must be transported for processing, before being returned to the region, a cycle that can take-up to a month for manual applications.
However, the roll-out of the Live Capture Unit, an online registration system, he said, has helped shorten waiting times, with some applicants now receiving their IDs within a week.
Despite the collection challenges, the region has recorded steady progress in registration.
He said Sub-counties, each with an average annual target of about 4,000 new applicants, have largely met their goals, a performance attributed to mobile registration drives and support from partner agencies.
Opiyo added that recent government directive waiving fees for first-time applicants has further boosted the numbers.
“Previously, new applicants paid Sh300, while replacement of lost or damaged IDs cost Sh1,000. The waiver has encouraged more Kenyans to apply,” he said.
Opiyo reiterated that the registration process is free, warning the public against making unauthorized payments.
He said all official payments, where applicable, are processed strictly through the eCitizen platform.
“If anyone asks you to make payments for photos, materials or any other reason, insist on an official eCitizen payment reference. If they cannot provide it, do not pay,” he said.
He added that applicants are notified once their IDs are ready through SMS and, in some cases, WhatsApp groups, particularly for students registered through schools.
However, limited resources, he said. have constrained consistent communication, slowing efforts to reach all applicants.
Opiyo stressed that registration alone is not sufficient, urging applicants to take responsibility for collecting their documents.
“The responsibility lies with applicants to collect their IDs,” he said, noting that the document is critical for accessing essential services.
To clear the backlog, authorities, he said, have strengthened distribution channels, dispatching IDs from headquarters to sub-counties and onward to chiefs for grassroots distribution.
In some instances, he said, registration officers were working alongside officials from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in Kisumu, to deliver IDs directly to villages during voter registration drives.
“Community structures, including village elders, youth leaders and local administrators, have also been mobilised to support the exercise. Applicants have been urged to promptly respond to notifications sent through SMS and other communication channels,” he said.
With ongoing enhanced voter registration exercise residents are being urged to visit their designated centres and collect their identity cards.
According to Kibos Yegon, a registration officer with the IEBC in Kisumu, voter registration in Kisumu Central Constituency is lagging, with only 4,792 people registered against a target of 14,845—about 33 per cent despite more than half of the exercise period having elapsed.
Across Kisumu County, 21,348 voters have been registered out of a target of 69,207 across seven constituencies, representing about 31 per cent performance.
Yegon said preliminary data shows that nearly 80 per cent of those registered are youth aged between 18 and 24, many drawn from institutions such as Maseno University and other colleges.
To boost the numbers, the IEBC has deployed additional registration kits across the county, including mobile units in wards, extra desks at Huduma Centres and standby kits for targeted drives and public engagements.
By Dorothy Pamella
