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Kenya Free ID Replacement Ends Oct 30: How to Apply

World · By SpikeToday ·

The entrance of the Huduma Centre at the General Post Office in Nairobi, with the Huduma Kenya sign over the door, a colourful mosaic wall and passers-by in coats and jackets on the pavement
The Huduma Centre at the General Post Office in Nairobi, where ID cards are processed (cropped). Photo: User:Gone Postal via Wikimedia Commons, CC SA 1.0.

Replacing a lost ID card in Kenya is free only until Friday, October 30, 2026. The government has waived the Ksh1,000 replacement fee, and the gazette notice sets that as the last day. The waiver also covers changing the details on your card. The working days are few, because Tuesday, October 20 is Mashujaa Day, a public holiday. President Ruto said last October that free replacement could last until after the 2027 election, but the only legal notice we found ends it on October 30, and we found no new notice extending it.

What the waiver covers

QuestionAnswer
What is free?Replacing a lost or damaged ID card, and changing the personal particulars on it. The fee waived is the Ksh1,000 charge for both.
Until when?The waiver covers “the period commencing on the 30th April, 2026 and ending on the 30th October, 2026”, in Legal Notice No. 76 of 2026.
Who made it law?Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, on April 29, published in the Kenya Gazette on April 30 (Kenya Law, gazette PDF).
Is a first ID free?First-time applicants have not paid a fee since the government scrapped it in March 2025, according to Kenyans.co.ke. That is separate from this deadline.
What happens after Oct 30?The notice no longer applies. The fee was Ksh1,000 before the waiver, so expect that fee again unless a new gazette notice extends the waiver.

How to replace a lost ID

  1. Get a police abstract that confirms the card was lost. Huduma Centres offered free police abstracts for lost IDs in 2024 (The Eastleigh Voice).
  2. Go to a Huduma Centre or a National Registration Bureau office with the abstract. Fill in the replacement form, give your old ID number or a copy if you have one, and have your photo taken again (Kenyans.co.ke, July 30).
  3. Forgot your ID number? Huduma Kenya says that at a Huduma Centre officers can trace it from your full names and date of birth, and by scanning your fingerprint (Kenyans.co.ke, Dawan Africa).
  4. Collect the slip you are given. It is a temporary waiting card while your new-generation Maisha card is processed (Kenyans.co.ke).
  5. Pay nothing during the waiver. President William Ruto told Kenyans to report anyone who asks for money for IDs (The Eastleigh Voice).

Huduma Kenya’s helpline is 1919 (The Star). We found no official processing time, so do not wait for the last week. The notice talks about a period, not about the day your card is printed, and we found no official statement on how it treats an application made on the last day. Apply early and keep your receipt.

If it is extended again

The waiver has been extended before. The first six-month waiver came in a gazette notice dated October 30, 2025 (Kenyans.co.ke), and Legal Notice No. 76 reset it to the dates above (Citizen Digital). The Kenya Times reported in May that a government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, had said it would extend to 2027 (The Kenya Times), but the gazette does not say that. If a new notice appears, we will update this page. Until then, treat October 30 as the deadline.

The General Post Office building in Nairobi: a cream and blue office block with rows of windows above a brick base, a paved plaza in front and a few trees on the right
The General Post Office building in Nairobi, where the Huduma Centre shown above is located (photo from August 2025). Photo: DesiBoy101 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Who this is for

More for Kenya: EPRA fuel prices to November 14 and Mashujaa Day on October 20.

Sources

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