Kenya Government Must Not Replicate Discriminatory, Arbitrary Nature of Vetting in New ID Guidelines

The Government of Kenya has taken an important step,by recognizing ID vetting as discriminatory and acknowledging changes are needed to align the ID registration system with the Constitution. However, the government risks replicating the arbitrary and discretionary nature of vetting in the new registration guidelines.

Vetting has been systematic across the country for decades, imposed on ID applicants only because of their ethnic or religious background. Even when an applicant provided all…