Residents of Tinderet Sub County, Nandi County can breathe a sigh of relief after the Government opened a new births registry office in the sub county.
Speaking during the opening of the office, Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the new birth registry office in Tinderet Sub County will be a relief to the residents who for a long time have been travelling for a long distance to access the services at Nandi Hills and Kapsabet.
The PS added that the office will be able to cut the cost that the residents have been incurring to travel to Nandi Hills and Kapsabet in order to access the services.
Bitok further said that he anticipated the number of registered births in the county to increase because of the Government bringing the civil registration services close to the residents of Tinderet.
The PS called on the residents of Tinderet to take advantage of the office in order to benefit from Government services and resources. “Registration of births and deaths provides a strong foundation for a nation to plan its development programmes and improve service delivery to citizens from a statistical standpoint,” the PS noted.
He implored the residents to also take advantage of the six months window from the time of occurrence of the births and deaths to have them registered and certified for free.
“All births and deaths occurring in Kenya are required to be reported and registered within six months from the date of occurrence. Registration of births and deaths done within six months of occurrence is free of charge,” said PS Bitok.
The new birth registration office in Tinderet Sub County will be the fourth civil registration office to be opened by the Government in Nandi County to serve a population of more than 800,000 residents.
It is reported that 66 out of 100 deaths and 31 out of 100 births respectively in the county go unreported but with the addition of civil registration offices, it is anticipated that the residents in the county will be able to access the services easily.
Area MP Julius Melly urged the chiefs, village elders and assistant chiefs to play a leading role by helping the residents without birth certificates in Tinderet in applying for the document because the services have been brought near them.
The MP lauded the Government for seeing it fit to open a births registration office in Tinderet Sub County saying that the vital document will help in the enrollment of learners in schools as well as help the residents in accessing other Government services.
By Kosuri Valarie
