HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 791934,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/791934/?format=api",
"text_counter": 88,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Maanzo",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 2197,
"legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
"slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
},
"content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to speak on this very important Motion on establishment of civil registration centres in every constituency. Civil registration is not only about birth certificates. Kenya has come a long way with this matter. There is a time when this was only obtainable at Sheria House in Nairobi and you would find long queues there. Eventually, it was devolved to some districts. Today, it is mostly in many county headquarters in the country. Recently, the Government encouraged, through primary schools, that all children in schools be equipped with birth certificates. Ordinarily, the birth certificate is obtained as soon as a child is born, especially if they are born in a hospital. The forms are available for registration and the child is registered at birth. However, there is a huge backlog of Kenyans who have not attained this particular document over a long time. Recently, when the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government started the mass registration, Kenyans really went through challenges. They were forced to go and camp at the county headquarters for days and within no time, brokers emerged and started to assist some of these people who had covered a long distance. In fact, they started charging some fee, I think between Kshs500 and Kshs1,000 and in some cases Kshs1,500, which is an illegality. They were taking advantage of vulnerable Kenyans who were and are still under pressure to present the document urgently in schools. The moment a school master in the village sends children away for a document, the parents will go to a great extent to make sure they acquire this document, hence the need to have these registration centres devolved to every constituency. Even the Member of Parliament can be involved in overseeing it with the assistance of the chiefs and other administrators in the grassroots. This document can be acquired easily by Kenyans. In fact, in some places, people are being asked for a small bribe to get the document. In other centres where people have been camping for days waiting for this particular document, the equipment for registration has been found not to be working. The computer is not working. In the case of Kitui, Hon. Charity Ngilu had to give assistance from her own office by surrendering the county equipment to the registration bureau so that they could utilise it to serve Kenyans fast. The Government was not ready for the order it gave. They had not allocated the necessary resources and Kenyans found themselves in a difficult situation. For that matter, it is important that there are registration centres in every constituency. In the case of Makueni Constituency, I have seven quite huge wards. The logistics of getting to the headquarters of one district – because I have three districts – is quite a challenge. Although a lot of constituencies in Kenya are based on districts, there are other constituencies which have several districts in them, just like it is the case in Makueni Constituency. Even at the constituency headquarters, which can be registration centres, it would be prudent to go by districts and even later on further push it down to the wards. If we do that, we will have as many young children as possible being registered whether there is an order from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government or not. We are talking about a very important document. It is a primary document for one to get an identity card, for one to participate in Standard Eight examinations, and for one to apply for a passport. I thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker."
}