Nubian Rights Forum & 2 others v Attorney General & 6 others; Child Welfare Society & 9 others (Interested Parties) [2020] eKLR worn out and eventually all the writings on it disappeared. He applied for replacement of his national identification card on 19th November 2018. 998. During the verification process for replacement of his identification card, he was informed that his fingerprints were not available in the records at the National Registration Bureau and was asked to swear an affidavit to facilitate the replacement of the national identification card. His testimony was that it has been four years since he lost his documents and his efforts to replace them were fruitless. He had applied for a Huduma Namba on 10th April 2019 but the officials had sent him away without attending to him. He stated, however, that he had a waiting card issued to him on 5th September 2019. He stated that his problem in this case is that without an identity card he cannot get a Huduma Namba. 999. The affidavit and oral evidence of Mr. Shafi Ali Hussein, in so far as it relates to the alleged discrimination against members of the Nubian community and other marginalised groups, was primarily directed at the vetting process and the composition of the vetting committees established under section 8(1A) of the Act. He contended that while vetting is intended to counteract fraudulent acquisition of documents, it was not applied to other ethnic groups. Mr. Hussein conceded, somewhat reluctantly, that he had written the letter of appreciation dated 8th April 2017 to the National Registration Bureau. The letter had been written on behalf of the 1st Petitioner which was partnering with the Registrar of Persons in mobilising residents in the issuance of identity cards and birth certificates. 1000. Ms. Fatuma Abdirahman’s testimony traces the challenges faced by Nubians to the 1990s, their quest for the Kibra land, and the 1998 bombing of the American embassy. Prior to 1990, the Nubian community had accessed identity documents like other Kenyans, but since then the community was subjected to differential treatment with regard to accessing birth certificates, national identity cards, and passports. The security vetting had intensified after the process was legalised by the Security Laws (Amendment) Act of 2014. 1001. Ms. Abdirahman narrated the steps taken by the 1st Petitioner to improve access to government documentation for members of the Nubian community, testifying that over 3,200 people had been assisted to apply for birth certificates, identity cards, passports, and death certificates. She was aggrieved that Nubians in Kibra are only able to apply for identity cards on Tuesdays or Thursdays, the days on which the vetting committees sit. 1002. Taken together, and with the greatest respect to the 1st Petitioner, we are unable to discern violation of the right to equality and non-discrimination from the evidence presented before us. What we have is the evidence of one witness who had obtained identification documents issued as far back as 1961, lost them in 1972, obtained a police abstract but did not follow up on it and the writings on it faded; and only applied for a replacement identification card in November 2018, 46 years after he lost the documents. His evidence, we must observe, was quite inconsistent and not quite reliable, and is not demonstrative of the alleged challenges and discrimination. 1003. The other evidence indicates that the 1st Petitioner has been able to enter into partnerships with State agencies such as the National Registration Bureau and mobilised residents to get identification cards as well as births and deaths certificates. Contrary to the assertions of Mr. Hussein, the letter of 8th April 2017 is more suggestive of a community that is happy with the manner in which the issuance of documents was progressing. All in all, we are unable to find a basis for faulting the impugned amendments on the basis that they had resulted in violation of the right to equality and non-discrimination. On Exclusion 1004. The Petitioners have contended that the impugned amendments make it mandatory to register under NIIMS and to obtain the unique identification number. They are aggrieved that under section 9A(2)(d), NIIMS shall, among other things, support the printing and distribution of all identification documents in the country. They are http://www.kenyalaw.org - Page 166/174