Can a lender keep your ID card as security for a loan?
Registration of Persons Act · sources read 3 Oct 2026
No. Under the Registration of Persons Act it is an offence to unlawfully deprive anyone of their ID card, or to be in unlawful possession of someone else's ID card. The penalty is a fine of up to KSh 200,000, up to 18 months in jail, or both.
- Where
- Any police station (hotlines 999, 112, 911)
Steps
- Ask for your ID card back. Unlawfully keeping a person's ID card from them is an offence under the Act.
- If they refuse, report it at your nearest police station, or call the police hotlines 999, 112 or 911.
- If a lender has your ATM card and takes money from your account fraudulently and without any claim of right, report it to the police as stealing.
Watch out
- Using someone else's ID card is also an offence, so a lender holding your ID can't lawfully use it either.
- Handing your ID over as security also goes against your own duty to keep it in safe custody.
- These offences carry a fine of up to KSh 200,000, up to 18 months in jail, or both.
Who this covers
- Every person who has been issued a Kenyan ID card. The law says you must keep your own card in safe custody.
Official sources (3)
- Registration of Persons Act (Cap. 107) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Penal Code (Cap. 63), Rev. 2014 probation.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- National Police Service kenyapolice.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026