Nairobi — Kenyans can now receive birth and death certificates for their kin on the same day of application.

Julius Bitok, the Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizens, has affirmed the implementation of a new business process as part of the ongoing reforms aimed at enhancing efficiency in service delivery to Kenyans.

"I am directing all registration officers to ensure every person who walks into our offices leaves with the document on the same day. We are doing this so that, as a country, we can officially record more deaths than the 55% that is the current rate," he said.

Bitok emphasized that the new directive, effective immediately, intends to eliminate the backlog of pending applications and prevent applicants from enduring prolonged waits for their documents, thereby reducing their frustrations.

"The countrywide fast-tracking of the issuance of the certificates is also targeted at encouraging higher levels of registration," he said.

He urged the public, chiefs, and their assistants to promptly report every death to the relevant government offices.

He highlighted that unreported deaths can jeopardize the succession process within families and may encourage fraudulent activities such as impersonation.

"What it means when 45 out of every 100 deaths are not registered is that families may not be able to inherit the property of a deceased. In other cases, you will have dead people voting and doing other illegalities," he said.

Bitok further encouraged residents to utilize the new offices to obtain birth certificates, which are mandatory for school enrollment and the issuance of ID cards and passports.

Currently, the national average for birth registration stands at approximately 87 percent.