Nairobi — The government has announced that it will start issuing digital death and birth certificates from March 1.

According to Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, the launch of the digital death and birth certificates coincides with the Introduction of the Unique Personal Identifiers (UPI), which will act as a lifetime ID for newborns.

The Identifier will be issued across the country to children who are Kenyan citizenship.

In compliance with the Births and Deaths Registration Act, it will also be adopted for children born outside the country to Kenyan citizens and who are eligible for Kenyan citizenship.

Where death occurs, UPI will also serve as the death certificate number. This could be an important means to bridging the current documentation deficit and enhancing the accuracy of official mortality records.

Other than being used in Birth and Death registration, UPI can be used as the school's admission number as well as the index number for national examinations.

UPI can serve as the ID number on attaining 18 years, the registration number for National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Driving License Number.

PS Bitok's announcement is in line with the Kenya Kwanza government agenda of having 95 per cent of government services digitized, as part of enhancing service delivery.