The Chairperson of the Commission on Administrative Justice, Charles Dulo, has urged Kenyans to make timely applications for vital documents to avoid missing out on critical government services.
The Chairman noted that a considerable number of Kenyans do not possess Identification Documents (IDs) or Birth Certificates and they only apply for them whenever they need to access government services, exposing them to delays, as they wait for the documents to be processed.
Mr Dulo is calling for concerted efforts by both the National and County government actors to sensitise the public on the importance of timely acquisition of the crucial documents to ensure that they do not miss out on government services.
“The Registrar of Persons cited Late Registration as a big challenge. These documents are not only vital at the time of voting, but they are equally vital in terms of other services such registering for the Social Health Authority, applying for loans from the Higher Education Loans Board, succession because if you are going to get an inheritance, you will be required to have an ID and that is why we are encouraging people who are above18 to register for IDs,” he said.
Dulo spoke in Nyeri, Tuesday, when he led other commissioners in paying a courtesy call to the Nyeri Governor, Dr Mutahi Kahiga. The courtesy call preceded a day-long sensitization exercise of Nyeri town residents on the functions of the Commission.
The Chairperson also decried the rising number of uncollected documents in Huduma Centres and registration bureaus in the county.
The Commission noted that they are also alarmed by the high number of uncollected Drivers Licenses that are yet to be collected from Huduma Centres. As of April this year, a total of uncollected ID in the Mount Kenya region stood at 25,000 with 6,000 of them consisting of first-time applications.
Dulo said that to fast-track the distribution of the processed documents to their respective owners, the Commission will partner with the National Registration Bureau and the National Government Administrative Officers to decentralize the distribution of the documents.
He also said that the Commission is collaborating with the National Transport and Safety Authority to resolve the network challenges that have hampered verification of DL holders from collecting their licenses months after they have been processed.
“We are engaging the Registrar of Persons, to ensure that once the IDs are ready, they are taken to the Sub-county level, so that the Chiefs, who know the people who have applied for the IDs, can deliver them to the applicants. We have been informed that the registration bureau sends the applicants a text but the system is not entirely effective, so we are going to explore other ways of ensuring that once the IDs and other documents are ready, they are taken closer to the people to get their documents,” he stated.
Dr Kahiga appealed to the Commission, which is responsible for promoting good governance and efficient service delivery in the public sector, ramp-up public sensitization forums, as a way of enlightening them about the proper channels to be followed when seeking redress for maladministration when receiving services from the National and County governments.
“We appreciate that the complaints will never cease, but we also appreciate that some of the complaints arise due to lack of information. The continued engagements are good because the ordinary citizen doesn’t know the distinct line between County government and National government,” noted governor Kahiga.
By Wangari Mwangi and Samuel Maina
