Gov’t confirms gazette notice hiking IDs, passport fees despite court order
The government on Thursday confirmed it issued a gazette notice raising charges for seeking state services despite the High Court suspending it.
The controversial notice, which triggered uproar from the public will see charges of critical documents like identity cards, passports and government staff badges.
The Government Printer, the state agency responsible for publishing all state statutory documents, on Thursday, affixed its official stamp, certifying the gazette notice.
In a bid to address the confusion, the Government Printer moved to confirm its authenticity and therefore ended the debate as to its authenticity.
The certified copy was stamped and certified on Thursday, November 9, 2023.
In the changes, the cost of processing a basic passport went up by 66.7 percent to Sh7,500 in the latest review of charges and fees announced by Interior CS Prof Kithure Kindiki.
To process a 34-page ordinary passport was increased from Sh4,500, a move that is likely to make it hard for ordinary Kenyans to acquire the critical travel document.
Kenyan citizens will also have to part with Sh20,000 to replace a mutilated passport, up from Sh10,000, while to replace a lost passport will set one back by Sh20,000.
Kenyans who lose their ID will pay Sh2,000 to replace a national identity card. This is 20 times the Sh100 that Kenyans have been paying.
Late registration of death will cost bereaved families Sh500 from Sh150 while civil servants who want to replace their job cards will pay Sh2,000 from Sh100.
President William Ruto is keen to increase revenue collection by also going after the fees and fines charged by State agencies have remained unchanged for decades.
Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu was on Wednesday forced to apologise over the release of a Gazette Notice which showed that fees for the processing of permanent residences for children of Kenyan citizens born outside the country had increased.
The notice said the fee had increased to Sh1 million.
The notice, which triggered a heated public debate, reported that fees for the processing of permanent residences for children of Kenyan citizens born outside Kenya had doubled to Sh200,000 while the fees for the issuance of permanent residences for the same children had increased to Sh1 million from Sh500,000.