The government has intensified its crackdown on those involved in the irregular issuance of birth certificates. Speaking to the press on Friday, inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai said 24 officials working at the Civil Registration office are required to report to the nearest police stations to assist with investigations. This comes after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i made public the efforts by the government to nab those frustrating Kenyans when it comes to issuance of birth certificates, and on Monday, he revealed two officials at the Civil Registration Bureau had been interdicted.
IG Mutyambai said government offices are not conduits for brokers and criminals to enrich themselves by coning Kenyans. Speaking later while at the Registration Offices in Upper Hill, Nairobi, CS Matiang’i said the government has tried different methods to ensure officials working at the centre do away with bad tendencies including holding talks with them, transfers, training but the efforts didn’t bear any fruits.
He said efforts to reform the centre will continue, and multi agency efforts will be used. He said an order has been given to ensure there is no certificates’ backlog in Nairobi, “I have asked the regional commissioner in Nairobi…that by 1st December this year, there will be no single case of backlog in Nairobi, issuance of birth and death certificates,” he affirmed. He added that parents are anxious given that in January they’ll need the birth certificates to ensure their kids join schools, “I want to promise them they will not have that anxiety. We are going to sort this our completely and we will be done.”
