PS Omollo Drives Massive ID Registration Push for Nyanza Youth

Kenya, 10 December 2025 - Interior Principal Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo has intensified coordination between the Immigration Department and political, administrative and community leaders across Nyanza in a bid to mop up thousands of young people who qualify for national identity cards but still lack them.

The stepped-up effort, officials say, marks one of the most targeted documentation campaigns in recent years and is designed not only to clear an entrenched registration backlog but also to prepare a new generation of voters to take an active role in Kenya’s democratic processes.

Dr Omollo’s approach blends administrative mobilisation with local political engagement.

“We are working closely with governors, MPs, ward administrators, youth groups and grassroots opinion leaders in Migori, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Siaya to make this noble exercise a success,” he explained.

The ID registration drive aims to dismantle the practical barriers that have historically kept many young adults from acquiring IDs.

These include long distances to registration centres, slow vetting procedures and a general lack of awareness among school leavers about the importance of immediate documentation.

Leaders have been tasked with identifying unregistered youths, facilitating transport to registration points and ensuring that mobile teams reach remote villages where under-registration is most acute.

The urgency is underscored by Interior Ministry data indicating that more than 1.5 million adults in the four counties are currently without national IDs – a figure that exposes long-standing gaps in state outreach.

For Dr Omollo, this represents both a governance deficit and a political opportunity.

It is a chance to expand access to essential state services while ensuring that young citizens are not locked out of future electoral processes.

He has repeatedly argued that national identity cards are the gateway to civic participation and that early acquisition enables young people to transition smoothly into full political and economic citizenship.

What distinguishes the current drive from previous efforts is its deliberate linkage between ID registration and future voter enrolment.

While the ministry maintains that the exercise is administrative rather than partisan, officials openly acknowledge that enabling youths to secure IDs early creates the conditions for them to obtain voter cards once the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) begins its next mass registration.

In a region where political engagement runs deep, the capacity to turn an under-documented youth population into a registered voting bloc is seen as having far-reaching implications for the 2027 electoral landscape.