File image of Fred Matiang’i
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has distanced himself from the ID cards scandal, which was aired by a local TV station.
Speaking on Monday, June 15, Matiang’i said that during his tenure as Interior Cabinet Secretary, he worked alongside former ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru to establish a credible and efficient system for the issuance of national identity cards and passports.
“When I was in the Ministry of Interior, we had sorted out all these things. We had established systems and worked to clean up that place. Now, things are back to business as usual,” he said.
“I believe that this is something that would not happen if I were the president. I would deal with it with a measure of courageous decisiveness that is needed to clean up all this nonsense.”
Matiang’i went ahead to warn that the alleged issuance of IDs to non-citizens was a dangerous and unpatriotic practice that could undermine public trust in Kenya’s identification and travel systems.
“Our passports will be downgraded, our travel documents are going to be questioned, and the credibility of our identification documents is now in jeopardy,” said Matiang’i.
The 2027 Presidential hopeful further claimed that the alleged issuance of IDs to foreigners could be a move to try to rig the 2027 General Election.
His remarks come after Belgut Member of Parliament Nelson Koech alleged that ID’s were issued to foreigners during the tenure of former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022.
“We looked into the Identification cards they claimed to be illegally acquired. The IDs were issued in the year 2022 when Fred Matiang’i was the Cabinet Secretary and Uhuru Kenyatta was the President,” said Koech.
