PS Belio Kipsang reveals plans to abolish birth certificate fees as Kenya rolls out a digital registration system linking hospitals directly to the national ID database.
Government Plans to Scrap KSh200 Birth Certificate Fee in Major Digital Reform
The cost of getting a birth certificate in Kenya could soon drop to zero. Immigration Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has revealed that plans are underway to abolish the KSh200 fee currently charged for the document, in what would be the latest move in the government's push to ease access to vital registration papers.
Following the ID Fee Blueprint
Kipsang says the move mirrors what already happened with national IDs, where the government scrapped the KSh300 fee for first-time applications and the KSh1,000 charge for replacements. "If we are removing KSh300 for IDs and KSh1,000 for replacement, then we will also discuss removing the birth certificate fee to make it easy for Kenyans to get the documents they need," he said.
From Hospital Bed to Digital ID
At the heart of the reform is a new digital system already linking hospitals to the national identity database. Once a baby is born, the hospital captures the child's details alongside the parents' information, and the system automatically generates a Unique Personal Identifier for the newborn.
What This Means for Ordinary Kenyans
For years, getting a birth certificate has meant taking time off work, travelling to a registration office, and sometimes paying middlemen just to speed things along. Scrapping the fee and automating the process at the point of birth removes both the cost and the hassle in one move.
It also matters most for families in rural and underserved areas, where the nearest registration office can be hours away. With the Unique Personal Identifier generated automatically at the hospital, a child's legal identity is locked in from day one — no follow-up trips required. That's significant in a country where many children still grow up without a birth certificate simply because their parents couldn't afford the time or money to get one.
What Happens Next
The proposal still needs to go through the same process that scrapped ID fees, including formal sign-off before it becomes official policy. It also builds on momentum already in motion: Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen recently announced that Kenyans can now download and print birth certificates online through e-Citizen, and the government has separately approved plans to decentralise civil registration offices to constituency-level ID centres countrywide.
Taken together, these reforms suggest a clear direction: a fully digital civil registration system where cost and distance are no longer barriers to owning the documents that prove who you are.