Passport & ID Issues

I went to Nyayo House last week to get a replacement passport but couldn't get it due to a little thing called a Kenyan ID! My current passport expires in 2010 but I need a new one because when I re-entered Kenya, the guy at immigration had changed the stamp to August 2009. So, technically, I'm not really in Kenya. As I have been told, this will cause me problems if I need to leave the country before that date. That is why I needed a replacement passport. I got my passport pictures, two of which needed to be certified by a lawyer and also got my form "recommended" by the same lawyer (this is #7 in PP1 form). Stood (and sat...they have chairs) in line for about 4 hours (which ain't that bad considering they sent us away for their lunch break between 1-2!) and finally when I get to the counter the agent throws my form back at me saying, "where is your ID?" and I calmly explain that I do not have one but I have taken all the steps required and just waiting for it to be printed (I was being Ms. Nice, Killin' him with kindness and showing off my pearly whites). He then asks me why I need a new one when I still have some pages left over and I explain the entry-stamp issue. He asks me how the stamp can have a wrong date as if I could have my own stamp made and wrongly stamp my own passport...sheesh! At any rate, he tells me that he cannot issue my replacement passport without a Kenyan ID (I stated that this was my third passport and my lack of ID had never been an issue)and questions why I never got one when I previously visited the country and oh, get this, how can he be sure I am a Kenyan citizen. For cryin' out loud genius, you are holding my passport in your hand...Kenya has no dual citizenship arrangement with the US and furthermore, I had the paperwork from the DO's office to show I had applied for the ID. No, dude just wants to make me suffer and since he is the one behind the glass, he wins. This time.

I leave the immigration hall fuming and wondering what kind of satisfaction the guy got out of wasting my time! I make a couple of calls and find out that I can go the NSSF building (National Social Security Fund) and have someone tell me when my Id would be printed. OK, so I'm an old hag (by Kenyan standards) but that should be no reason that I cannot get an ID right? Isn't it my right as a citizen, regardless of what age I choose to do it at? Well, not so fast. Since I never actually got an ID before I left there are a few issues as I am considered a "late registrant" and there are a couple of checks and balances that have to be completed before they can grant me an ID. First, they have to check my name combinations in their computerized database and if my name doesn't pop up there, they have to move my request to the manual office that looks through all the manual records since the year I turned 18 (I know that was many moons ago...WOW!). The officer at NSSF informs me that they are in the "manual process" and he will try to speed up things so I can get my ID and my replacement passport.

If you find yourself in this same predicament (late registrant) here are the steps that you need to go through:

1. Get your lawyer to write an affidavit of "Late Registration" stating among other things the date you left the country or the duration that you have been away, supporting evidence such as birth certificate and other lingo that lawyers know to put in there to appease the D.O's office
2. Take a copy of the affidavit, original birth certificate, copies of your parents ID copies (both front and back). You will also need miscellaneous information that shows the village, sub-location, location, district, constituency, tribe name, clan name and family name. Yes, I know...how very COLONIAL. I couldn't believe that they still ask those things but what do you know, we are still perpetrating the same ideologies that our colonialists expected of us.
3. Go to your local D.O's office with the above and you will have to fill out a bunch of forms all asking for the same information mentioned in #2.
4. Fingerprinting and pictures will be done at the D.O's office so make sure you don't wear a hat/scarf and carry some Wet Ones because you will need them to get the black ink off your palms/fingers.
5. Once they look over all the information, they will give you a little 3X5 piece of paper that contains your names, address and a stamp from the DO. More importantly, the paper contains a serial number that you can refer to should you have any issues. They will ask you to wait 2 months before coming back for your real ID.
NOTE: I have since learned that unless there are any issues after this, you can get your ID in 2-3 weeks!! I spoke to an officer in charge of IDs at NSSF and he informed me that their SLA commitment is "within 20 days".


As for replacement ID's, I have been informed that the process is much faster...as long as you know your ID #. Go to NSSF, 7th Floor and ask for a "printout" of your ID. Take that printout to your local D.O's office and fill out the appropriate forms and that's it!!! They will also tell you it takes 2 months but my inside guy (at NSSF) says that a day after you get the 3X5 piece of paper you can take it to NSSF and you can demand that your ID be printed. Not sure about the 'demand' part but it would surely speed up stuff if they are already in receipt of your paperwork. The pictures inset show the current "second generation" ID that I am trying to get! By the end of the year, a "third generation" ID card should be ready - this card promises to tie in other industries such as banking, insurance, etc so that information redundancy is reduced. It seems promising so I'm definitely looking forward to that!!