This archive report was first published on 11 August 2019.
Kenya's Interior Secretary Fred Matiang'i has announced the end of a one and a half month waiver on birth registration fees, effective August 16, 2019.
The waiver, which started on June 27, 2019, allowed citizens to register for birth certificates for free. However, with the waiver ending, the Sh180 charge for birth registration will be reinstated.
The move is aimed at plugging the gap between births and registered births, with official data showing that Kenya had an estimated 7.4 million births in the five years to 2018, but only 4.9 million were registered.
The birth certificate is a crucial document required for fresh listing in schools and the recently launched Huduma Namba, a mass listing of all Kenyans.
According to a notice issued by Matiang'i on August 9, 2019, the exemption from registration fees and fees chargeable for the issuance of certificates of birth will operate for one and a half months ending on August 16, 2019.
The waiver is set to boost the new primary school registration dubbed National Education Management Information System (Nemis), which requires students to have birth certificates for registration.
