Kenyans may have to dig deeper into their pockets for government services, some of which have been free for a long time. This follows a gazette notice seen today and shared widely on social media about the review of charges and fees associated with accessing identification cards, passports, visa applications, and marriage certificates, to mention a few.
First and foremost, organizations such as banks that need to access the national ID database for KYC will likely pay a substantial amount for this service. Here are the charges:
| Item | Charges in KES | New charges in KES |
| Verification of ID information | 5 | 20 |
| Annual subscription fee – govt institutions | – | 500,000 |
| Annual subscription fee – private | 1,000,000 | |
| Connection fee | – | 50,000 |
Passport fees have been adjusted upwards as follows:
| Passport | Old charges in KES | New charges in KES |
| Ordinary 34 pages | 4,500 | 7,500 |
| Ordinary 50 pages | 6,000 | 9,500 |
| Ordinary 66 pages | 7,500 | 12,500 |
| Diplomatic 50 pages | 7,500 | 15,000 |
| Temporary permit | 300 | 300 |
| Replacement of mutilated passport | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| Replacement of lost passport | 12,000 | 20,000 |
For national ID cards, these are their new charges:
| Item | Current fees in KES | New fees in KES |
| Not registered | – | 1,000 |
| Duplicate/replacement | 100 | 2,000 |
| Change particulars | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Identification reports | 300 | 1,000 |
| Civil servant card | 100 | 1,000 |
| Staff badge | 350 | 1,000 |
Charges such as an annual subscription fee for public and private companies to access the national ID database for KYC will see the organizations pass the charges to their customers. This means that it is possible that accessing banking services, and other alerts associated with them is going to cost more.
