Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has dismissed growing concerns that eliminating the vetting process for national identification (ID) cards could compromise the credibility of Kenya’s electoral system. Speaking during the Jukwaa la Usalama joint media interview in Kitui on Thursday evening, Murkomen called such fears unfounded and politically motivated.
He argued that the country’s election infrastructure is robust enough to detect any large-scale manipulation. “I want to tell Kenyans who are expressing fears that fake IDs could rig votes that by the time you are mobilising fake IDs to reach 1,000 let alone 10,000 it’s impossible,” he said. According to Murkomen, even the effort required to generate 1,000 fraudulent IDs would be monumental and would not go unnoticed by security agencies or electoral bodies.
He also downplayed concerns that presidential elections could be rigged by registering 100,000 fraudulent voters, terming such fears as mere speculation. “There is no way someone can rig the presidential vote by registering 100,000 voters; that is guesswork if that is your politics,” he stated.
Addressing concerns from the North Eastern region where residents have often faced prolonged vetting processes due to security-related fears Murkomen insisted that propaganda about foreigners taking advantage of linguistic and cultural similarities to obtain Kenyan IDs is baseless.
“I know there is this propaganda, especially from the North Eastern region, where some claim that Kenyans living in Mandera are content with people from neighbouring countries taking their spots because they speak the same language. That is a dream,” he said.
He emphasized that Kenyans, regardless of region, are fiercely protective of their local interests. Using the ongoing boundary dispute among Kitui, Machakos, and Makueni as an example, Murkomen argued that such territorial sensitivities make it unlikely for locals to permit foreign infiltration.
Murkomen urged critics to focus on facts and adopt a more informed approach when debating national identification policies, warning against fueling unnecessary public anxiety. He reiterated that national security remains a top priority and should not be compromised by unfounded electoral fears.
