Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has had to personally lead an impromptu raid at the Department of Civil Registration, in a telling crackdown on corruption.
It is no secret that cartels have for too long thrived in the registration and issuance of birth certificates.
After obtaining birth certificates, the holders have proof of the place of birth and other vital personal information, making it easier for them to obtain national identity cards and passports.
The endemic corruption here means that it is possible for foreigners, some of whom might have ulterior motives, to acquire these documents and use them to commit crimes.
Also, the ease with which cartels enable strangers to get registered could have deadly national security consequences.
Dr Matiang’i has in his characteristic no-nonsense style kicked out two senior officials implicated in the shady issuance of birth certificates, which has been described as a multimillion-shilling graft industry run from the department’s Nairobi headquarters.
We hope that the back of the racket has finally been broken and all those who have been profiteering from it will be brought to book. It is not enough to just remove the suspects from office.
They should be identified, relentlessly pursued and thorough investigations carried out to rid the registration department of this endemic rot.
Commendable efforts have been made to ease the delivery of key public services, one of which is the registration and issuing of birth certificates.
It is the crooked staff, working in cahoots with cartels behind the manipulation of what should be a straightforward process, that needlessly frustrate the people in need of services.
Anybody who infringes on the right of Kenyans to obtain vital public documents or access services paid for by the taxpayer must never be tolerated. And corrective measures should not wait until top government officials intervene. There should be absolutely no room in the public service for corrupt staff.
However, the many Kenyans who have been frustrated by the illicit operations of the rent seekers, will be pleased by the CS’s firm assurance that the issuance of birth certificates will now be streamlined and eased by next week. Anybody who infringes on the right of Kenyans to obtain vital public documents or access services paid for by the taxpayer, must never be tolerated. And corrective measures should not wait until top government officials intervene. There should be absolutely no room in the public service for corrupt staff.
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