Nairobi — Kenyans looking for new Identification cards will now get their IDs within a period of ten days after application starting next month.

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok stated the government shortened the time it took to process the important identity document after installing live capture equipment in all Huduma Centers and National Registration Bureau (NRB) county offices nationwide.

Bitok said that the two new, higher-capacity printers the government recently purchased for the National Registration Bureau (NRB) will help expedite the processing time for identity cards.

"It will now take you not more than ten working days from the date of application down from at least 21 days to get your ID. We want Kenyans to acquire their IDs as quickly and conveniently as possible," he said.

Speaking at Katoloni, Machakos County during this year's World ID celebrations PS Bitok noted that the county leads with at least 32,000 youth eligible ID registration applicants.

He revealed that the County also boasts birth and death registration rates of 78 percent and 43 percent respectively.

"The Machakos event was marked with on-spot registration for IDs, birth certificates, certificates of good conduct among other documents. The choice of Machakos as a venue for this year's festivities was informed by a high number of eligible ID registration applicants with at least 32,000 youth deemed due for registration," he stated.

Bitok disclosed that in order to facilitate access to passports and other travel papers, the government is considering establishing a new Immigration office in the county.

Machakos Member of Parliament Caleb Mule also appealed to the government to open more NRB and the Civil Registration Services (CRS) offices to spare residents from travelling long distances in search of services.

"Our citizens are commuting long distances in search of identity documents. For instance residents of Machakos, Makueni, Kajiado and Kitui counties currently face the burden of travelling to Embu or Nairobi for passports which is costly and time consuming," said Mule.

The International Identity Day is commemorated annually on September 16 to acknowledge the importance of the national ID and other registration documents.