Ruto Signs Martha Wangari’s Civil Registration Bill As Her People-Centred Laws Reform Track Record Grows

By Suleiman Mbatiah

Kenyans seeking birth and death certificates will no longer endure long journeys and delays after President William Ruto signed a new amendment law aimed at decentralising civil registration services nationwide.

The Births and Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024, sponsored by Gilgil Member of Parliament Martha Wangari, mandates the establishment of at least one births and deaths registration office in every sub-county.

The law seeks to decentralise civil registration services to improve access to birth and death certificates. It is expected to ease the process for families, cut travel costs and reduce congestion at central offices.

Currently, Kenya has 143 operational birth and death registration offices, mainly located in sub-counties and regional headquarters.

With the amendment now in force, the country will add 132 new offices, bringing services closer to communities across the country.

Speaking after the signing, Wangari said the reforms will strengthen public service delivery and improve national planning.

“The Act will improve national data accuracy for planning health, education and social services,” she said.

She said the reforms would benefit vulnerable households by enabling poor and marginalised families to register births promptly and access essential services, including schooling, NHIF and bursaries.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen welcomed the move and said access to civil registration has for years been hampered by bureaucracy and limited-service centres.

“For far too long, access to birth and death registration services has been constrained by bureaucratic inefficiencies and limited-service centres,” he said.

Murkomen noted that complaints over the difficulty of acquiring certificates featured prominently during the government’s Jukwaa la Usalama tour across the country.

“These systemic challenges have significantly impeded Kenyans from timely acquisition of this essential documentation, thereby preventing them from accessing critical government services,” he said.

He said the reforms form part of broader institutional changes aimed at improving service delivery.

He reiterated the government’s unwavering commitment to strengthening institutional reforms to ensure that every Kenyan can access government services efficiently.

The MP, now in her second term after previously serving as a nominated Senator, has sponsored several people-centred legislative reforms focused on strengthening governance, labour rights and public service delivery.

In 2015, she sponsored the Employment (Amendment) Bill, later enacted in 2021, introducing one month of pre-adoptive leave and placing adoptive parents on equal footing with biological parents.

The law protects working mothers and fathers who adopt, promotes legal adoption by removing discrimination, and aligns Kenya’s employment framework with evolving family structures and child welfare standards.

The Treaty Making and Ratification (Amendment) Bill, 2023, also sponsored by Martha, seeks to amend the 2012 Act to give the National Assembly a more active role in early treaty negotiations and signings.

Currently, Parliament largely reviews treaties after Cabinet approval, limiting its involvement and often leaving it to endorse agreements at advanced stages of the process.

She also sponsored the County Government (Amendment) Act, 2016, which ensured elected and nominated Members of County Assembly are sworn in simultaneously after elections, strengthening inclusivity in county governance.