Kenya High Court Puts a Pause on Passport and ID Fee Increases

A Nakuru-based doctor has filed a petition with the High Court in Kenya, leading to the suspension of a Kenya Gazette Notice that had proposed increased charges for important documents such as identity cards, passports, and government staff badges.

In acknowledgement of the pressing nature of the matter at hand, Justice Lawrence Mugambi has put a stop to the implementation of the higher fees outlined in the official notice published on November 6. To ensure that all relevant parties are notified, Dr Magare Gikenyi has been instructed by the judge to serve the necessary court documents to CS Treasury Njuguna Ndung’u, Interior counterpart Kithure Kindiki, and Attorney General Justin Muturi within a three-day timeframe. A hearing has been scheduled for November 29 to evaluate compliance. The recent revision of fees as announced by Prof Kindiki, has led to a 66.7 per cent increase in the cost of processing a basic passport, now priced at Sh7,500.

This adjustment, along with the rise in fees for replacing a damaged or lost passport to Sh20,000, is likely to present difficulties for ordinary Kenyans who need to obtain or replace these crucial travel documents. The fee for obtaining a national identity card has skyrocketed to 20 times its previous amount of Sh100. Moreover, the cost of late registration of death has surged from Sh150 to Sh500, while civil servants wishing to replace their job cards will now be required to pay Sh2,000 instead of Sh100. Dr Gikenyi strongly criticizes these price hikes, arguing that they were implemented without any logical basis and public input. He contends that the new charges are exorbitant and lack any justification.

Additionally, Dr Gikenyi highlights that these fee increases were not sanctioned by Parliament, and therefore, the court should step in to prevent this unlawful escalation. In addition to evaluating fees for passports, identity cards, and birth and death registrations, Professor Kindiki also reviewed the fees for citizenship and permanent residence. The timing of the fee reviews happens to correspond with the Land Ministry's decision to increase charges for land registration. These come as part of President William Ruto's push to boost revenue collection by addressing long-standing fees and fines charged by government agencies.

Civil servants will see an increase in the cost of their staff badges from Sh350 to Sh1000. Similarly, civil servant cards will now cost Sh1000, compared to the previous price of Sh100. Birth registration will soon see a considerable jump from Sh50 to Sh200. Meanwhile, the same hike applies to the costs of acquiring a death certificate. Parents applying for late birth registration will be required to fork out Sh500 instead of the previous Sh150 charge. The new cost for late registration of a death certificate will also rise from Sh150 to the newly established Sh500.

To modify birth or death certificates, parents will now incur Sh1000 as opposed to the earlier charge of Sh130. Meanwhile, a presumed death certificate will escalate to Sh1500 from Sh150. Authentication of identification details under the Registration Database System (IPRS) will now be granted by paying Sh20 instead of the previous fee of Sh5. Furthermore, governmental agencies and private organizations must now dish out Sh500,000 and Sh1 million correspondingly, as annual subscriptions. Previously, these subscriptions were free.

Citizenship reclamation efforts under section 10 will incur significantly higher fees - a surge from Sh5,000 to Sh50,000. The revelation mandates a cost of Sh10,000 for those who opt to declare dual citizenship, as opposed to previously nonexistent fees. Similarly, the cost for renunciation, which was previously Sh20,000, will now be set at Sh50,000. In addition, the Kenya Kwanza administration aims to raise the fee for individuals seeking citizenship through marriage from Sh30,000 to Sh100,000.