Vihiga blames Govt printer over birth certificates crisis

A crisis has hit issuance of birth certificates in Vihiga County after it was revealed that 18,720 applications were still lying at the headquarters in Mbale.

The civil registration office said most of the applications are from candidates who will sit the 2019 primary and secondary end of school national examinations.

Some of the applications date back to February 2018 and some applicants have had to wait for more than a year to get the crucial document.

GOVERNMENT PRINTER

When contacted, the county civil registrar Joseph Owiti blamed the delay on the government printer and lack of enough civil registration officers.

Vihiga has a population of about 600,000 people and has only one office dedicated to civil registration.

Mr Owiti said the process that once took one month, now takes more than a year to complete.

But the official said birth certificates for applications made in February 2018 are ready.

"The backlog should not be blamed on our Mbale office. Birth certificates are printed in Nairobi by the government printer. We only receive about 10 copies from the government printer every two to three weeks," he said.

Mr Owiti said they received 324 applications in January 2019 from candidates and nursery school children who have to register in the new education system.

"We are now forced to use the schools which pick registration forms and help learners fill them from school," said Mr Owiti.

"We receive 10 books containing 100 certificates each per week while the number of people who apply is more than 3,000 in the same period," he said.

Additional Reporting by Benson Ayienda.