The Ministry of Interior, through the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, has reported the loss of 900 birth certificates.
In a notice on Tuesday, October 15, the state department disclosed that the incident occurred at Mutomo registration office in Kitui County.
“Civil Registration Services wishes to inform the general public of the loss of birth certificates that occurred at the Mutomo Registration Office,” read part of the notice.
The state department explained that the missing documents were in nine booklets, each containing 100 leaflets, with serial numbers ranging from 1502001 to 1502900.
Consequently, members of the public were cautioned that the certificates had been cancelled and, hence, rendered invalid.
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The state department also urged anyone who may have been issued any birth certificate bearing any of the mentioned serial numbers to return them to the Secretary of Civil Registration Services at Hass Plaza, 4th floor, Nairobi.
The incident comes a few weeks after the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development announced the theft of 367 title deed printing papers.
The ministry claimed that the motive for the theft of the papers was an intention by corrupt cartels to produce fake titles.
It affirmed that it has enhanced its mechanisms for fighting land fraud and that one official working with the government printer had been arrested in relation to the theft.
"The Ministry of Lands relies on the government printer for the provision of the security documents used for printing title deeds. We would like to reassure Kenyans that what was stolen at the government printer were not title deeds but the papers that are used for printing titles.
"The government printer has informed us that one officer working at the printer has already been arrested by the security agencies in relation to the theft," the ministry stated on September 29.
