News25 June 2026 - 20:10

State seeks to abolish birth certificate charges under new plan

State seeks to integrate civil registration and hospital management systems to enable registration of birth to be done in hospitals.

by KNA

Audio By Vocalize

*National Government Administration Officers keenly follow proceedings during a meeting with the state department of immigration and citizen services in Siaya./KNA*

Plans are underway to abolish the levy charged on the acquisition of birth certificates, the principal secretary for immigration and citizen services, Belio Kipsang has said.

Belio at the same time said that the government was working towards the integration of its civil registration and hospital management systems to enable registration of birth to be done in hospitals, thus saving Kenyan’s time and resources spent on acquiring the document.

Speaking in Siaya town when he met members of the national government administrative officers from the county, Kipsang said that already, the cabinet secretary for interior, Kipchumba Murkomen, has tabled a cabinet memo seeking to remove the Sh200 fee charged on birth certificates.

“Since we have removed new Identity card application fees and the Sh1,000 ID replacement fees, a child should not be charged to get a birth certificate,” Belio, who was flanked by acting Siaya county commissioner, Robert Ng’etich, said.

He said that the government was committed to ensuring that Kenyans get any of the identification documents that they need fast.

On the civil registration, Kipsang said the government has developed an E- notification system to enable hospitals to capture the details of the child and parents.

“Once a child is born, every detail is captured in the system,” he said, adding, “the civil registration system has been integrated with the hospital management system, where all details of the child and parents are captured”.

He said the system will generate a Unique Personal Identifier (UPI)that will give each child a unique number at birth.

All that a parent will do, he said, is to walk to any cybercafé with the UPI number and print the birth certificate.

Belio said that the government was currently finalising a similar e-notification system for deaths to enable citizens to access death certificates with ease.

“People will not have to spend time and resources walking from one office to the other looking for such documents,” he said.