SAMBURU—The Somali and Turkana communities in Samburu County cannot be issued with the national identity card because the local chief and the immigration officers wouldn’t trust them with the document.
In a meeting held at the Samburu West, the Turkana and the Somali communities decried systematic discrimination saying they have never known anywhere besides Samburu.
They said they feel humiliated when they are subjected to a special vetting process.
“I was born here and my father was born in Samburu. I have never been to Somalia,” Kheira Abdi,46, a mother of seven children has lamented.
She added that her elder son had to travel to Isiolo County to get a National Identity (ID) card because the local vetting committee would not allow him to be registered as a Kenyan citizen.
“If anyone suspected that we are not Kenyans or sympathisers of Al Shabab, they would have known long ago,” Mikai Ali, a mother who claimed to have lived in Samburu for more than 40 years, said.
“Those we are trying to frustrate and humiliate came long before we settled here,” David Lesuarapus, an ethnic Turkana said.
The area chief, Selina Lemakara said the vetting process was important since the county shares border with Garissa County where terror attacks have been reported.
“Some of the youths who seek the ID don’t have school-leaving certificates and are not known in the area,” she noted.
“All we need is to confirm their habits and way of life for the government needs to trust them. But vetting needs to be done quickly,”she added.
Samburu registration officer Felix Bosire defended the process, saying it stops people with “ill motives” to be issued with the document.
“Due to the increased insecurity, we cannot allow people whose identities are not clear to be registered,” he said.
