A Kenyan court has suspended a controversial government order that would have seen a significant rise in the cost of acquiring crucial documents including identity cards, passports and birth certificates.
Some of the fees were increased overnight by up to 20 times and provoked condemnation from the public about the government being out of touch with harsh economic times.
The hikes were the latest measure in a series of controversial taxes and levies introduced by President William Ruto to raise revenue deal with growing debt repayments since he rose to power last year.
The judge granted the suspension on Thursday pending the hearing of a case brought by doctor Magare Gikenyi.
A government official said on Wednesday that the gazette notice announcing the new prices "contains errors" and that measures to rectify it already been taken.
The revised fees increased the cost of passport endorsementfrom 500 Ke nyan shillings ($3.30) to Ksh10,000 ($66.00), while the cost of first-time registration as an adult in Kenya – a person aged at least 18 years – shot up from zero shillings to Ksh1,000 ($6.60).
