Residents of Belgut sub-county within Kericho County are now benefiting from a one- stop government service point offering the processing and issuance of national identity cards at a single location.
The temporary registration centre hosted at Kaptoboiti Chief’s Office is facilitating national identity card applications and collections at the same point.
In an interview with KNA at the center, Belgut sub-county Registrar of Persons, Ezra Koech, said the initiative is aimed at improving efficiency and ensuring that more residents are registered and issued with identification documents in good time.
He said that during field outreach services, the team is able to capture many new applicants, adding that they can register up to 80 applicants in a single day.
“From our statistics, when we go to the field we get more applicants. We want to reach out too many unregistered applicants. Like today we have around 80 new applicants who have come,” said Koech.
Koech revealed that in the past week the office had a backlog of about 600 uncollected national identity cards, out of which 500 have since been issued, leaving 100 still pending at the office following the establishment of the temporary registration centre.
He acknowledged the support of the National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) team in facilitating the process, adding that chiefs and assistant chiefs are helping to mobilize applicants to ensure all remaining identity cards are collected.
The officer expressed appreciation to the National Registration Bureau for supporting the mobile registration exercise noting that with additional facilitation, the department would be able to expand its reach and register more unregistered applicants across the sub-county.
Belgut Assistant County Commissioner, Doronew Wanjala, said the temporary registration center was established to bring government services closer to the public, describing it as a one-stop shop for government services.
He added that registration for Social Health Authority (SHA) services were also being undertaken at the center, in a bid to improve access to health coverage and expand enrollment under the national programme, alongside the recently concluded Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) voter registration exercise.
“We are here to ensure that citizens access services at the same point. We are conducting national identity card registration, including new applications, replacements and collection of ready cards in collaboration with chiefs and assistant chiefs. About 500 identity cards have been issued in the past week, enabling residents to register as voters, enroll for SHS and access other services including applications to universities and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS). We shall continue doing this one stop shop government services to the people in locations and sub-locations,” he said.
Among the beneficiaries was Elon Kipgeno, 18, who received his national identity card after five months of waiting, expressing relief at the convenience of accessing the service locally.
“I am from Getumbe village and I am happy that I have finally received my national identification card after five months of waiting. I plan to use my ID card to open a Sacco account where I will be saving my tea earnings.” said Kipgeno.
By Sarah Njagi
