Elusive but important zero in seeking crucial papers

Parents storm offices of the registrar of persons to verify birth certificates

Zero. The digit that has made Faith Kosgey and thousands of parents make endless trips to the registrar of persons' offices to beat a Government deadline in registering students for the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).

Kosgey started the long process of acquiring a birth certificate for her eight-year-old daughter last month and when she finally had it, she thought the hassle was behind her.

However, when she went to her school in Dandora to register, she was told the certificate number was not accepted.

“I had already made endless trips, queued for hours and now they tell me I have to go back to the same office and seek clarification,” she said.

When she went back to the registrar’s office, she found a long queue. Kosgey eventually got to the front of the line where she was told that all she needed to do was tell the headteacher to add the number zero in front of the birth certificate number.

“Why did they not add the zero in the first place? It is not my job. And what happens in the future with this zero mix up?” she asks.

Principal Civil Registrar Benter Were says they have since opened a counter to deal with this and other errors that need rectifying.

“Initially, we issued certificates starting with the numbers 26, and then we introduced zero to read 026 so without the zero the number is not accepted,” says Were.

Meanwhile, Tom Oloo starts out in the queue with no papers in hand. His son is in Standard Eight and they had lost his birth notification.

When he gets to the front of the line, he is informed that he needs to go back to the school or his area chief for a letter.

“The letter is just to show that this parent has a child,” says Were.