Parents in Homa bay County have been challenged to collect birth certificates for their children in registration offices instead of waiting for head teachers to pick them on their behalf.
Speaking to KNA in his office Tuesday, the County civil registrar Thomas Damba said that it was the responsibility of parents, not teachers, to collect certificates for their children.
The registrar added that so far there are over 8,000 birth certificates lying uncollected in various offices within the region, probably because the parents are still waiting for head teachers to collect the documents on their behalf.
He said a technical problem with the government printer had occasioned delays in processing birth certificates. “We had a backlog of 54,860 birth certificates that led to the delay in processing the documents,” he said.
However, Damba added that by 17th July this year about 35,639 certificates were issued reducing the backlog to 8,213 certificates.
He added that they are working hard to ensure that those applying for the certificates for the first time get them soonest.
Damba also urged the parents to continue applying for birth certificates for their children as it was the right of every child to be registered.
By Emmanuel Otengo and Davis Langat
