Governor Moses Akaranga wants registrar's offices in villages

Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga officially opens new classrooms at Emukunzi Youth Polytechnic. The governor urged students who failed to make it for minimum university entry marks to enroll in the vocational centres in the county to acquaint themselves with life skills. [PHOTO: ERIC LUNGAI/STANDARD]

Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga wants the office of the registrar of persons decentralised from counties to sub-counties.

Akaranga said people living far from county headquarters face challenges getting birth certificates and national identity cards.

"There are challenges especially when the person has to come to the county headquarters on several occasions just looking for a birth certificate and yet they can easily access the document at the sub-county in this era of devolution," Akaranga said.

He said whereas the legislators from the region want thousands of their constituents registered during the mass voter registration commencing today, many still lack identity cards.

"We want our people to be registered in huge numbers, and that will only be implemented if the services are brought closer to them in the villages," he said.

The governor cited long queues outside registration of person's offices in the county.

The offices at Mbale are unusually busy especially in the period of registering students for national exams as parents struggle to get birth certificates for their children.

Area residents said they sometimes spent several days at the offices without being attended.

Akaranga spoke over the weekend when he opened new buildings at Emukunzi polytechnic in Central Bunyore ward, Emuhaya constituency where he urged residents to vote for him in the August polls.

"In the last election, I only got 2,000 votes from the entire Luanda and Emuhaya constituencies. And it was because you people didn't know me. Now that you know me, I want your support in my second term's bid," he said.

He urged students who did not qualify for university to enroll in various vocational centres in the county to gain vital life skills. 

The governor launched several Early Childhood Development Education centres, saying his administration was working to lay solid foundations for children's learning to secure their future.