Legal Consequences: Jail Term and Fines for Possessing Dual Identity Cards
There are situations in which Kenyans may possess more than one national identity card (ID).
From submitting a second application due to delays in the issuance of a card to submitting a replacement application after momentarily losing the original or amending personal information.
Some unwittingly commit a crime by possessing two identification cards, risking imprisonment under Title 63 of the Penal Code.
You may also be charged with obtaining a national ID by pretense. In violation of section 320 of the Penal Code.
This was demonstrated in 2017 when the High Court ruled on a case. In which a Kenyan was accused of applying for an ID in April 2010 despite having been issued a copy previously.
On August 23, 2017, a magistrate found the defendant guilty of possessing two identity cards. And sentenced him to pay a fine of 20,000 Kenyan shillings in default. For which he was to serve six months in prison.
The magistrate based her decision on Section 320 of the penal code. Where she determined that by submitting a second application, the defendant attempted to obtain a document under pretenses.
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“Any person who knowingly obtains or attempts to obtain any registration, license, or certificate under any law using a pretense shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,” the statute states in part.
It specifies that the defendant is subject to a one-year prison sentence upon conviction.
Section 312 of the Penal Code defines pretense as “any representation, made by words, writing, or conduct, of a past or present fact that is false in fact and that the person making it knows to be false or does not believe to be true.”
However, the law allows those with a valid reason to apply for a second identification card.
Applicants for a second ID must state the reason for their request. And the previous ID must be destroyed in the presence of immigration officials.
In the 2017 case, the defendant was found guilty of having his fingerprints taken without disclosing that he had previously applied for another form of identification.
“The defendant made a second application without disclosing his prior registration,” a fingerprints expert from the National Registration Bureau Headquarters told the court at the time.
Legal Consequences: Jail Term and Fines for Possessing Dual Identity Cards
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