The government has announced the rollout of a digital system for notifying births, which Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says is meant to remove delays and make registration easier to access.

Murkomen announced the e-Birth Notification System on Monday during President William Ruto’s development tour at Kaptumo in Aldai Constituency, Nandi County. He presented it as part of a wider programme to move government services online and improve how they are delivered.

He also said the government has abolished fees for first-time national identity card applications, as well as charges for replacing a card and changing personal particulars.

The Cabinet Secretary did not say when the system will become operational, which counties will be covered first, or how it will work alongside the existing registration processes handled by the civil registry. The scope of the fee waivers he cited was also not detailed.

The government has not released figures on current birth registration rates or on processing times expected under the new system.