President William Ruto during his Northeastern region tour on February 5, 2025/PCS President William Ruto has signed a Presidential Proclamation to officially abolish Identification Cards vetting for residents of the Northeastern region.
The President said the move will see the residents of Northern Kenya acquire national identification documents with ease.
Ruto termed the signing of the Presidential Proclamation on Registration and Issuance of IDs to Border Counties as an end to unjust and disenfranchising practices.
"If it's about vetting, let all children of Kenya be vetted equally without any discrimination. We want the people of Northern Kenya to feel equal to the rest of the country," he said.
He made the remarks after publicly signing and reading out the decree at Orahey Grounds in Wajir Town on Wednesday.
The President added that for years, residents of Northeastern have endured extra-vetting and ethnic profiling by the State before they acquire birth certificates and national identity cards.
Present during the signing were Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, Governors Ahmed Abdullah Mohamed (Wajir), Mohamad Adan Khalif (Mandera), and Nathif Jama Adam (Garissa).
The President is on a four-day development tour of northeastern Kenya. On Tuesday he toured iMandera.
On Thursday and Friday, he will visit Garissa and Isiolo counties, respectively.
On electricity, Ruto announced that the government would spend Sh6.9 billion to connect tens of thousands of households to power in the three Northern Kenya counties.
"As we connect communities, we must also connect public utilities, including schools," he said.
The President commissioned a last-mile electricity connection at Shuublow Community and Secondary Electrification Project in Wajir East Constituency.
Once complete, the project will make the use of solar in thousands of boreholes in the county possible, addressing the acute water shortage the residents face.
Addressing students of Shuublow Mixed Day Secondary School, President Ruto said the government has invested heavily in reforming the education sector so that no Kenyan learner misses an education opportunity.
While opening the Tarbaj Teachers Training College in Tarbaj Constituency, President Ruto said the institution would help train more teachers in the region and thus alleviate chronic staff shortages in Northern Kenya.
At Bula Barwaqo, Wajir Town, the President flagged off the vaccination and the National Livestock Restocking programmes targeting vulnerable families who lost animals during the drought and El Nino seasons that affected the country not long ago.
He urged pastoralists to vaccinate their animals to combat diseases that have prevented Kenyan meat from accessing markets abroad.
On roads, the President said the government will tarmac 750km of the road that traverses the three counties at Sh100 billion in partnership with the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the Arab Bank.
"This country belongs to all of us, and we must develop all corners of Kenya equally," he said.
He called on the residents of North Eastern to support the broad-based government, saying it would enhance unity and national cohesion.
During the development tour, the President also assessed construction work at the Wajir Township Affordable Housing Project, Wajir Hospital, and the Wajir County Aggregation and Industrial Park.
He also commissioned the Wajir Satelite Blood Transfusion Centre and the refurbished Wajir Museum.
Others who accompanied him during the tour included Cabinet Secretaries, MPs, and MCAs.