The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
A new birth and death registration office has been opened in the Tiaty constituency of Baringo County, providing much-needed relief to local residents.
Previously, people had to travel long distances to Kabarnet town for these services.
Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok explained that the new Civil Registration Services (CRS) office, located in Chemolingot shopping center, would ease the burden on residents, many of whom faced significant travel costs and time loss to access registration services.
The new office is expected to boost the registration of births among the predominantly pastoral community, where many children remain unregistered due to remote registration centers, difficult terrain, and security challenges.
“We understand that some residents were making journeys of up to 300 km to Kabarnet, which was not only expensive but also time-consuming. We aim to change that, so residents can now obtain birth certificates more quickly and affordably,” said Bitok.
He also revealed plans for a mobile registration campaign for National ID cards to assist those who have yet to register.
Chemolingot’s new CRS office becomes the fifth such facility in Baringo County, which has a population of about 900,000 people across six constituencies. Other CRS offices in the county are in Kabarnet, Mogotio, Ravine, and Kabartonjo.
Local leaders, including Tiaty MP William Kamket, have long criticized the difficulty of accessing government services due to the large distances involved. Kamket pointed out that the journey from Kolowa to Kabarnet, a 300 km trip with no roads, costs about Ksh 3,000 one way, not including the time and other expenses required.
“Such a trip takes over a day, factoring in travel, food, and accommodation costs. Residents often have to sell livestock just to afford the journey,” Kamket explained.
The leaders argue that the remote location and lack of registration have contributed to the constituency missing out on its fair share of national government resources, particularly in education, the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), and other public funds.
Baringo County Woman Representative Jematiah Sergon noted that schools in Tiaty are affected by the low number of registered children, citing that only around 200 students were registered in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) out of a school population of over 700.
The challenges also extend to voter registration. While there are 39,059 registered voters in Tiaty, local leaders believe the actual number of eligible voters is much higher.
Other leaders in attendance included Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap, West Pokot Woman Representative Rael Aleutum, Kesses MP Julius Ruto, CRS officials Paul Mwangemi and Christopher Wanjau, among others.
