Kenya Gov’t to Start Issuing Digital Birth and Death Certificates

The government will from March 1st begin issuing digital death and birth certificates, Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has said.

Bitok said the launch of the digital birth and death certificates coincides with the introduction of Unique Personal Identifiers (UPI), which will act as lifetime IDs for newborns.

In compliance with the Births and Deaths Registration Act, the identifier will be issued to all children who are Kenyan citizens, including those born abroad to Kenyan citizens and who are eligible for Kenyan citizenship.

UPI will also serve as the death certificate number where death occurs. It is only after a person dies that the number will be archived.

In addition to 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.

It 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.

"An obvious question is how different UPI will be from Huduma Namba. Whereas the latter sought to register citizens afresh under a different system, UPI will repurpose an existing and continuous exercise,” PS Bitok explained.

Speaking on Tuesday, Bitok said the move is in line with President Ruto administration’s agenda to have 95 percent of government services digitized, as part of enhancing service delivery.

The move is expected to bridge the current documentation deficit and enhance the accuracy of official mortality records.