Majimbo Kalasinga, who represents the Kabcuhai Constituency in the National Assembly, was displeased by the difficulty Kenyans have been enduring in the tenure of the president more than a year later.Kenya Kwanza MP goes ballistic on Ruto’s administration He drew an instance from the new charges and the extra ones imposed on citizen services and the acquisition of fundamental documents such as the national identity card and marriage certificates. The lawmaker took offence at the Ministry of Interior for gazetting the charges without involving the National Assembly. “They are not consulting Parliament. For instance, they have gazetted that if you marry, you have to pay for the marriage certificate. Is the government the owner of my wife? I can’t pay dowry and pay the government. You can’t go to tax everything,” said Majimbo. Majimbo, elected on a Ford Kenya ticket, faulted the CSs for bossing over Kenyans and being inconsiderate of their suffering. He threatened to initiate a move to impeach them; the lawmaker assured Kenyans that he would see to it that the charges were entirely scrapped. This would not be the first instance of Majimbo taking on Ruto and his administration. In June this year, the first-timer in parliament told off the president over the contentious Finance Bill 2023. He detested Ruto’s style of wooing them to back the bill in the National Assembly, demanding that the MPs be given ample time to make decisions without coercion. The president was on record threatening to monitor the lawmakers who would vote down the finance bill. “Being in Kenya Kwanza doesn’t mean overburdening people. Our country has people who make laws. “Give us time as MPs to debate ile kitu mzuri tupitishe na ile mbaya tuondoe. Rais wetu ambaye tunapenda asitupee msomo kwa TV kama sisi ni watoto wachanga. We are not small boys. This is the independence of the mind of the person standing before you the MP of Kabuchai.” he said. His concern about the citizen services charges came days after Interior CS Kithure Kindiki denounced the gazette notice. Why Kindiki revoked his own gazette notice(s) The CS observed that the charges and levies were settled without prior public participation. Nonetheless, the new fees, now revised as per the views of Kenyans, would be effected from January 1, 2024. “It is notified for information of the general public that Gazette Notice published by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration relating to an upward revision of charges, fees, and levies for various services provided by the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services has been revoked to allow more public participation on the matter,” Kindiki said. The CS instructed the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services to conduct public participation with feedback submitted no later than December 10 of this year. While defending the revision of the charges, Kindiki explained that it was informed by the need for the country to pull up funds to finance the budget in the current fiscal year. “The intended revised charges, fees and levies are informed by the need for Kenya’s self-reliance in financing the National Budget, to wean the country from unsustainable debt that poses grave threats to our sovereignty and the dignity of future generations,” said the CS. Kindiki’s revocation of the notice came a few days after the High Court in Nairobi halted implementation after a Kenyan, Magare Gikenyi, went to the corridors of justice to oppose the new directives and requested the court to put aside the gazette notice pending the hearing of his case. New charges on identity, travel documents As per the revoked notice, losing a national identity card would see the owner paying KSh 2,000 for a duplicate/ID card replacement; up from KSh 100. Applying for the ID card, which was initially free of charge, would see one parting with KSh 1,000. Changing particulars on an ID card would cost KSh 1,000, as before. Identification reports that used to cost KSh 300 would cost KSh 1,000. New passport application charges in Kenya Civil servant cards would cost KSh 1,000, up from KSh 100, and staff badges will cost KSh 1,000, up from KSh 350. Kenyans applying for passports would have to pay KSh 7,500 for a 34-page document; this used to cost KSh 4,500. A 50-page passport that used to cost KSh 6,000 would cost Kenyans KSh 9,5000. A Kenyan passport of 66 pages that used to cost KSh 7,500 would cost KSh 12,500, a whopping 5,000 hike. Diplomatic passports would cost upwards of KSh 15,000 under the new government directive.
by Kai Eli