Residents of Nandi County have welcomed the ongoing 10-day mobile registration exercise for national identity cards and birth certificates that began on the 20th of this month across all wards in the county.
The exercise, being conducted by the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, has seen registration officers stationed at selected public institutions, chiefs’ camps and market centres to bring services closer to wananchi, especially those living in remote areas.
In Tinderet Sub-County, hundreds of residents have been turning up daily at the designated centers to apply for first-time identity cards, replace lost documents, and secure birth certificates for their children.
Speaking at Maraba market center in the 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.
Jepchirchir urged parents to take advantage of the exercise and ensure children without birth certificates were registered before the expiry of the programme.
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 now 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.
He said officers handling the exercise had been efficient and cooperative with members of the public.
Assistant Chief Beatrice Jelagat said local administrators had partnered with village elders and community mobilizers to ensure information about the exercise reached every household.
She noted that many residents had already benefited from the programme and encouraged those yet to apply for the documents to visit the designated centers before the exercise ends.
Women leader Mercy Tuwei said the mobile registration programme had especially helped women and guardians who previously spent entire days travelling to registration offices while leaving behind their daily economic activities.
She called for regular outreach services in rural areas to ensure wananchi continue accessing government services conveniently.
The residents said the outreach programme demonstrated the importance of taking government services closer to the people, particularly in rural areas where access to registration facilities has remained a challenge for many years.
They further called for sustained collaboration between national government departments, local administrators and community leaders to ensure every eligible Kenyan acquires proper identification documents in good time.
By Sammy Mwibanda
