Factors influencing timely registration of persons in Kisumu city Kenya

Abstract

Registration of Persons is undertaken in many countries worldwide for national socioeconomic, security and political development. Kenya is not left behind and therefore one of the countries which use identification card for the same development agenda. The government of Kenya for the purpose of issuance of National Identity Card enacted registration of persons Act chapter 107, Laws of Kenya. This act requires every Kenyan citizen who has attained the age of 18 years and above to register and obtain National Identification Card. According to the service charter issued by the department of National Registration Bureau under the Act one receives his/her National Identification Card within 37 days from the time of application. However, people in Kisumu City and other parts of the country complain that they hardly receive their National Identification Cards within the timeline stipulated in the service charter and that some wait as long as 2 years. In countries like Rwanda, citizens can receive their National Identification cards on the same day of application. Since National Identification cards are used in important socio-economic, security and political development areas the delay in its issuance to the Kenyan citizens deprives them the right to participate in the areas of development. The delay denies Kenyans their right to register properties, to obtain travel documents, driving license, register marriages, vote, be elected to political positions, register as a voter, employment, education, open and close bank accounts, buy and sell properties, elect a person of their choice in political office and obtain loans for college fees. The purpose of the study was therefore to establish the factors influencing timely registration of persons in Kisumu City. The objectives of the study were therefore to examine the influence of registration requirements and systems, training of registration staff and infrastructure of the department on registration of persons. The study was guided by the theoretical and conceptual framework. The literature review conducted on the hypothesized factors had a bearing to the delay. The research was adopting a case study method and targets a population of 1093 in Kisumu City. The respondents were ID card applicants, Chiefs, Assistant chiefs, Id vetting elders and registration officials. The researcher used interviewing guides and questionnaires as data collection instruments. The validity and reliability of the research instruments were tested to ensure accuracy and consistency in measurements. However before the researcher and his assistants moved for the survey consent was sought from the University of Nairobi. Data collected was grouped, organized and categorized according to specific objectives and research questions. Closed-ended questions were awarded numerical scores when open-ended questions were analyzed on the basis of item by item as answered by respondents. These were then organized using descriptive statistics; frequency counts and percentages. The data was analyzed interpreted and summarized. The findings of study confirmed that the registration requirements were not easily accessed, centralized registration system was not efficient, registration officers were not adequately trained and that inadequate and outdated infrastructure of the National Registration Bureau hamper the effectiveness and efficiency of the department hence delay in registration of persons. In conclusion the factors influence the registration of persons. The recommendations of the study were that the department of registration of persons and other stakeholders should formulate registration requirements which are easily accessed, decentralize production of Id cards to counties, improve their human resource capacity and embrace use of current technology to reverse the delay in registration of persons.