Gov't rolls out 10-day mobile ID registration exercise across Nandi

SAMMY MWIBANDA-KNA

Residents of Nandi County have welcome a mobile registration exercise for national identity cards and birth certificates across all wards in the county.

During the 10-day exercise, conducted by the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, registration officers stationed at selected public institutions, chiefs’ camps and market centres were trained to bring services closer to Kenyans, especially those living in remote areas.

In Tinderet Sub-County, hundreds of residents  turned up at the designated centres to apply, for the first time, identity cards, replace lost documents and secure birth certificates for their children.

Speaking at Maraba market centre in Meteitei Location, community elder Elijah Kiptoo praised the government for decentralizing the services, saying many villagers had for years struggled to travel long distances to divisional or sub county headquarters to acquire the crucial documents.

Kiptoo said the mobile exercise had eased the burden on poor families and would help many youths who had stayed without identity cards secure employment opportunities and access government services.

Youth leader Sharon Jepchirchir expressed gratitude to the immigration department, noting that many school leavers in the area had missed opportunities because they lacked identification documents. 

She said the registration teams had enabled youths to begin the application process without incurring transport costs.

Businessman Benard Sang from Songhor shopping centre said the presence of registration officers in market centres had boosted public confidence and reduced congestion often witnessed at Huduma centres and civil registration offices.

He observed that many elderly residents who previously found it difficult to travel were able to access the services within their localities.

Education advocate Ruth Chebet noted that birth certificates remained critical documents for school registration and examination processes. 

She said the mobile registration campaign would help reduce cases where learners are locked out of examinations due to lack of proper documentation.

Chebet appealed to the authorities to consider extending similar outreach programmes beyond the ten days so as to fully address the backlog of unregistered residents in remote parts of Tinderet and the larger Nandi region.

A parent from Songhor village, Wilson Kirwa, said the exercise had restored hope to many families who had delayed processing documents because of financial hardships.