Replacing an Older Person's Lost ID Card

An older person's national ID card is usually kept somewhere safe: in a tin, in a Bible, folded inside an envelope with the title deed. Then one day it is not there. Perhaps it was lost on the way back from the market, taken with a handbag, eaten by rats or washed in a pocket until the photo faded away.

For a younger adult a lost ID is an inconvenience. For an older person it can quietly cut them off. The ID card is asked for at almost every desk that matters in later life: to register for or claim under the Inua Jamii cash transfer, to register with the Social Health Authority, to collect money at a bank or agent, and to prove who they are at a hospital. This article explains how to replace it, what to prepare, and how a family can make the trip easier for someone who is frail.

Why it is worth doing now

Our article on Inua Jamii for older people sets out the government's own requirement that both the older person and their caregiver hold a valid national identity card. The same is true of registering an older relative with SHA, where a Kenyan citizen registers with their ID card. If the card is lost, these things do not stop at once, but sooner or later a clerk will ask for it, and that is usually at the worst possible moment: at a hospital desk, or on the day a payment is due.

The replacement takes weeks, not days, so it is far better to start as soon as the loss is noticed.

Step one: report the loss

The National Registration Bureau, which issues ID cards, says on its page on the government's usajili.go.ke site that a replacement needs "a police Abstract or letter from an administrator". In practice that means one of two things.

• A police abstract. Report the loss at the nearest police station. The officer records it and gives you an abstract, a short document confirming the report.
• A letter from an administrative officer. For many older people the chief or assistant chief is easier to reach than the police station, and knows them by sight. Ask the chief for a letter confirming who the person is and that their ID has been lost. Our article on working with the chief and the county has more on how that office can help.

If the card was stolen rather than lost, report it to the police in any case. A stolen ID can be misused, and the report protects the older person if it is.

Step two: gather what you can

The more the registration officer has to go on, the smoother the visit. Before you go, look for:

• the old ID number, written on any document: an Inua Jamii form, a SHA or old NHIF card, a bank statement, a land document or a phone registration receipt;
• a photocopy of the lost card, if one was ever made;
• the police abstract or the chief's letter;
• a phone number the office can use to reach the family.

Do not worry if you cannot find the old number. It helps, but the registration office keeps its own records.

Step three: the visit and the fee

The person whose card was lost has to go. The National Registration Bureau's page answers the question of whether someone else can apply on their behalf plainly: "No, you have to appear in person before the Registrar in order to apply for an ID Card." Applications are made at a registration office or a Huduma Centre, where the officer takes fresh details, a photograph and fingerprints.

The fee. The same page gives the replacement fee as Ksh 1,050, paid through eCitizen. However, on 1 November 2025 State House announced that the government had gazetted a six-month waiver of fees for the replacement of identification cards under the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Rules, 2025. We have not been able to confirm from an official source whether that waiver has been extended or has ended. Ask at the registration office or Huduma Centre what is payable on the day, and do not pay anyone outside the official eCitizen system.

The new card. The National Registration Bureau describes the Maisha Card as the third generation national ID, now issued in place of the older card. An older person replacing an old-style ID should expect to receive a Maisha Card. The number on it, and how it links to their old records, is something to ask the officer about if a pension or cash transfer depends on it.

Making the trip easier for someone frail

The in-person rule is hardest on the people this article is about. A few things help.

• Go early in the day and in the week. Queues are usually shorter, and an older person is fresher in the morning.
• Ask at the door for priority. Many public offices let older people and people with disabilities go ahead. It does no harm to ask politely.
• Bring water, any medicines due that day, and a light snack. A long wait on an empty stomach is how dizzy spells and falls happen.
• Bring their glasses. They may be asked to read or sign a form.
• Mention it if fingerprints are hard to read. Worn fingertips are common in people who have farmed or done manual work all their lives. Tell the officer at the start rather than letting the person struggle in silence.
• If they truly cannot travel, because they are bedridden or very ill, ask the sub-county registration officer or the chief whether any arrangement exists. We cannot promise that one does, but it is the right question to ask.

After you apply

Keep the application receipt or waiting card somewhere safe, take a photo of it, and ask the officer how you will be told the card is ready and where to collect it. Collection also usually needs the person themselves, so plan the second trip as carefully as the first.

When the new card arrives, make two photocopies and take a clear photo of both sides. Keep one copy with the family member who handles the older person's affairs. If the card is ever lost again, the next replacement will be quicker.

A short checklist

• Report the loss at the police station, or get a letter from the chief.
• Find the old ID number on any document you can.
• Go together to a registration office or Huduma Centre, early in the day.
• Ask on the day what fee, if any, is payable, and pay only through eCitizen.
• Keep the receipt and ask how you will hear the card is ready.
• Photocopy and photograph the new card as soon as it arrives.

Where we fit

Lift A Life Foundation is a community based organisation in Ruiru, registered with the County Government of Kiambu, certificate RSC/3811/CBO/2024. We cannot issue documents or speed up a government office. What we can do is help a family work out what they need, sit with an older person through a long morning at the registration office, and follow up afterwards. If that would help, contact us. If you would like to support this kind of work, you can donate or get involved.