Members of the public are being urged to report stolen or lost identification documents at the earliest opportunity and get a police abstract of the same to enable them actively participate in nation building like elections and also reduce crime from happening. They should also keep a copy of the abstract for personal records.
This call was made in Mombasa during a training event for Jukumu Letu partners that was held at the Little Theatre. Amina Soud of Independent Electoral & Boundary Commission (IEBC) who heads the South West Region which encompasses Mombasa, Kwale and Taveta revealed that this dark trade is going on in Mombasa and its environs.
Other sources revealed that these ID’s are sold for sh3,500 or more. They are then used to register SIM cards later used by criminals to commit various crimes. Swindlers, fraudsters, extortionists and terror sympathizers are some of the criminals who could be using these SIM cards.
It is also possible that stolen ID’s could be used to commit Electoral fraud as the election nears.
The training session was one of the activities going on during the Jukumu letu week in Mombasa which will climax on 1st August at Mama Ngina drive.
Amina also informed the participants that IEBC will be actively involved at the event to carry out voter education and new registrations. Mombasa residents are invited to attend the Jukumu Letu event and also register as voters.
The training session was attended by Jukumu Letu partner organizations.
Dance into Space which is training local artists on dance theatre. The Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre (KIPT) are taking trainees through making of puppets and how they communicate socially conscious messages. Also involved is KATUNI who are training local artists on cartooning and illustration especially on governance.
One of the trainers and participants was the Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) who were educating the partners on using blogs and social media in advancing messages online.
The overall coordination for the Jukumu Letu events in Mombasa are being coordinated by Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO) & Ilishe Trust.