This archive report was first published on 2 November 2019.
On November 2, 2019, a sting operation led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i and his Information counterpart Joe Mucheru resulted in the arrest of over 20 suspects at the Department of Civil Registration in Nairobi.
The syndicate, which had been operating for months, had recruited key contacts in several private hospitals in Nairobi who fed it with fake birth notifications. These notifications were then used to issue birth certificates to clients, including foreigners.
Among those arrested were deputy registry director Paul Kagiri, principal records management officer Charles Akwoni, principal civil registration officer Charity Mwadime, and several clerical officers.
Police believe Mr. Akwoni and Mr. Kagiri were the masterminds of the syndicate, which had been running a parallel registry from one of their homes.
The system had been interlinked with some county civil registry offices across the country as well as the central registry, allowing brokers and officers to access the central registry system at will.
Following a public outcry and a presidential directive, the Interior and Information ministries staged a sting operation that led to the arrest of over 20 suspects.
Four other suspects were arrested about 10 kilometers away on Thika Road at St Francis Hospital.
Dr. Matiang'i and Mr. Mucheru described the rot at the registry as 'a deliberate effort to subvert services to genuine citizens so as to create avenues for corruption.'
They said that by creating an artificial crisis at the registry, corrupt officers were taking home hundreds of thousands of shillings every month in bribes from desperate Kenyans.
