This archive report was first published on 2 November 2019.
Interior CS Fred Matiang'i has announced a major overhaul of the Civil Registration Bureau (CRB), with the Huduma Centre set to begin offering birth and death registration services. The new services will start on Monday, November 4, 2019.
Speaking to the press outside the Central Registration Centre in Nairobi, CS Matiang'i expressed frustration with the slow processing of certificates at the department's ACK Bishop House offices. He stated that the services will be offered throughout the weekend, day and night, to ensure that there will be no backlog of cases by Monday.
“In the last one year we have tried all manner of tricks with this department, including transferring people, giving them a pep talk, training them, and even explaining to them that we should not frustrate our people, but it's all fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
“People have turned public service into a business, and you have to bribe to get a service. We are not going to work that way! We will work like responsible and decent public servants,” he added.
Earlier, several officers from the CRB were arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over corruption claims. The officers are accused of soliciting bribes from the public to process birth and death certificates.
Police Inspector General Mutyambai, who accompanied the CS, released a list of 24 officers being pursued over graft claims. He revealed that there are pending arrests at hospitals in Nairobi involving suspects believed to be part of cartels in the registration for certificates.
