Bungoma County's registration offices are struggling with inadequate staff, ageing vehicles, and cramped premises, which is slowing down the processing of birth, death, and national identity card applications. The county's drive to issue these essential documents is being severely hampered by these shortages.
According to County Registration Officer Kennedy Nyaega, the county only has two vehicles available for county-wide operations, both of which are over a decade old. One of the vehicles was borrowed from Kimilili, while the other was purchased in 2007. This limited fleet is restricting the county's ability to reach remote areas, especially during routine registration drives.
The limited access to vehicles and personnel is leaving many vulnerable residents without identification documents. However, a temporary boost was seen during the government's 11-day Rapid Results Initiative (RRI), when extra vehicles and personnel from Nairobi enabled the registration of an additional 43,000 people, bringing the total for the exercise to about 101,000.
Despite this success, Nyaega warned that funding constraints, particularly for vehicle maintenance, remain the main obstacle to sustaining such gains. Between July and September 2026, Bungoma registered 19,361 people under the new registration programme and processed 10,436 applications under other categories.
Delays in ID card production are also linked to staff shortages at the National Registration Bureau headquarters in Nairobi, with applications taking three weeks to a month to be completed. Office conditions in Bungoma County are also sub-optimal, with some offices operating from rented buildings or single rooms.
Civil registration services in the county face similar challenges, with the sub-county registrar reporting 76% coverage for birth registration and 64.8% for death registration. However, the expansion of these services to all 13 sub-counties has not been matched with additional personnel, further exacerbating the problem.
County Commissioner Thomas Sankei noted that national government administration officers continue to support registration exercises, particularly during RRI campaigns, underscoring the reliance on external assistance. The county is in need of sustainable solutions to address these challenges and ensure that residents have access to essential identification documents.
Key points
- Staff and vehicle shortages are major challenges facing Bungoma County's registration services.
- The county's limited fleet is restricting its ability to reach remote areas.
- Funding constraints, particularly for vehicle maintenance, remain a major obstacle to sustaining gains in registration services.
