The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has called on Kenyans to collect over 400,000 uncollected National Identity cards.

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok announced that the department cleared a backlog by printing 505,197 cards in the last two weeks. Of these, 162,856 are new, while 344,341 are duplicates.

As of now, only 1,358 applications are pending in the routine processing queue.

PS Bitok explained that the NRB resumed printing new and duplicate National ID cards after the High Court lifted a conservatory order that had temporarily barred the government from issuing the Maisha Card.

"By July 25, 2024, the NRB had received 451,228 National ID card applications (130,302 new and 320,926 duplicates) that were in various stages of production," Bitok stated.

Between August 12 and 26, 2024, the NRB production center received an additional 108,697 National ID card applications.

By close of business on August 26, 2024, 476,167 printed National ID cards remained uncollected at NRB registration offices and Huduma Centres across the country.

Nairobi County has the highest number of uncollected ID cards (55,327), followed by Kiambu (37,708) and Nakuru (28,581). Other counties with significant numbers of uncollected ID cards include Kisumu (18,529), Mombasa (17,140), Kisii (15,842), Murang'a (13,627), Uasin Gishu (13,155), Kajiado (12,533), and Bungoma (12,053).

"We urge applicants who have yet to collect their cards to visit the station where they submitted their application as soon as possible," Bitok emphasized.

He further noted that the NRB has cleared the backlog of National ID card applications and is now processing new requests as they are received. The NRB has also increased its printing capacity to 32,000 National ID cards per day and has introduced a 24-hour service dedicated to the processing and production of these cards.