MP raises alarm over unequal distribution of registration officers

Elgeyo Marakwet County's Woman Representative, Caroline Ngelechei, has voiced her concerns over the unequal distribution of civil registration and national identity card officers across Kenya. During a meeting at Parliament Buildings, Ms Ngelechei highlighted that the shortage of personnel in rural areas is hampering the ability to provide essential government services to all Kenyans.

She pointed out that many officers are concentrated in urban centers, while rural communities are left with inadequate staffing. During oversight visits to counties like Bungoma, Busia, and Elgeyo Marakwet, the committee has discovered significant disparities in the deployment of officers responsible for registering births, deaths, and issuing national identity cards.

For instance, in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Keiyo North Sub-County has approximately 15 officers, while its neighboring Keiyo Valley has just one. Despite this disparity, Ms Ngelechei noted that areas with fewer officers show almost similar monthly outputs as those with larger workforces. She questioned the rationale behind such disparities, especially when remote areas like Keiyo Valley, where there is only one officer, show comparable output to those with larger workforces.

Additionally, she criticized the concentration of personnel at the National Registration Bureau, where 37 officers are stationed in Nairobi despite limited space and capacity. Ms Ngelechei argued that this distribution pattern suggests poor utilization of public resources, as some officers in urban offices might be underutilized while those in remote areas are overwhelmed by demand.

She further accused the department of not enforcing staff deployment decisions, as officers posted to rural stations often return to headquarters. Ms Ngelechei called for the decentralization of human resource management, granting county officials greater authority over staff allocation to ensure officers remain where their services are most needed.

She emphasized that achieving universal civil registration and ensuring every eligible Kenyan obtains an identity card would require a more equitable distribution of personnel, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.