Birth papers print backlog 'threat to exams registration'

The County's civil registration office has raised concerns over the number of late applications for birth certificates.

County Civil Registrar Joseph Owiti said the late applications had created a backlog dating back to February last year, which posed a challenge for students registering for exams.

“We have about 18,720 pending cases from February last year, which are affecting the Nemis system used in exams registration. The backlog is too huge for us to clear immediately,” said Mr Owiti yesterday.

The registrar, speaking to the media at the county commissioner's offices in Mbale town, blamed parents for waiting till the last minute before flocking his office in search of the vital document.

“Registration for examinations using birth certificates started way back in 2010. But until now, many parents do not bother to look for the document during the other months until when schools demand for it,” he said.

Owiti said another challenge was the slow pace at which the Government Printer released the certificates. “We sometimes get only 10 or 20 certificates after every two weeks, which is a big challenge, bearing in mind the large number of applicants."

Vihiga Woman Representative Beatrice Adagala called on the civil registration office to devolve its services to the wards.

Owiti, however, said: “We do not have offices in the sub-counties and this poses a further problem because people in far away regions do not get our services easily. Hamisi and Luanda sub-counties are the ones with huge backlogs."

He said there were students in Form Four who were currently applying for the certificates, adding that he had devised a method to reduce queues at the county headquarters by giving school heads the registration forms for distribution to learners.

Owiti said his office had engaged community-based organisations and other non-governmental organisations in villages to help sensitise parents who were not aware of the process.

The registrar said they did not have challenges in the production of death certificates because many people did not apply for them.

“I would advise our people to apply for death certificates of their loved ones so they have them at hand. The majority only come when they want to use them in land succession issues,” he said.