Kenya to crack down on ID card and passport fraud

New machine-readable ID cards and passports could soon be introduced in Kenya in a bid to crack down on relatively common instances of document forgery, according to local reports.

An interview by the Daily Nation newspaper with Gideon Konchella, the Kenyan minister for immigration and registration of persons, indicated that current identity cards will be phased out and replaced with machine readable documents. Konchella was reported as saying that there are more than one million illegal immigrants in Kenya and most have managed to acquire national identity cards through illegal channels. "Such practices will be completely stopped once the new generation of identity cards is introduced," Konchella said.

"My top priority once parliament reopens is to ensure that every Kenyan who has attained 18 years of age can easily get a national identity card without the risk of other people being able to forge it," he stated in the interview.

Kenyan passports will also be changed, Konchella said, as many international criminals are reportedly targeting Kenyan passports as they are easy to open and replace photos.

A contract to produce the new ID cards and passports will reportedly be awarded through an open tender.