By IP reporter
KISIWA,KABUCHAI, Kenya
In Chebukwa,Kisiwa Sub-Location, West Nalondo Ward, residents joke that life officially begins at KSh 10,000 and ends at KSh 12,000 — because that’s the rumored price of getting a simple administrative letter to start the process of obtaining birth or death certificates.
“Here, even your own birth needs a budget,” muttered one villager. “And dying? You better save early.”
Villagers say that before any document can be issued, an invisible toll gate managed by a corrupt village elder “mukasa”,who reportedly claims to be the chief’s “errand person” — magically appears.
You want a letter? The process begins with a fee. You want to bury your father? A fee. You want a birth certificate for your child? You guessed it — a fee.
Yet when the same residents travel just a few kilometers to Kanduyi, the Registrar of Persons issues the same documents for free, promptly and without any mysterious “service charges.”
One resident of Chebukwa who sought anonymity put it bluntly: “I went to Kanduyi, got everything in minutes and no one asked me to contribute to anybody’s ‘fuel.’
Meanwhile back home they keep saying hakuna forms. These forms appear in town like rain in April.”
The situation has gotten so absurd that even local clergy are speaking out.
A bishop from the area, who insisted on anonymity, lamented, “How do you charge a grieving family Sh12,000 for a letter? If this continues, we will soon need a loan just to die.”
Villagers are calling for the Kabuchai Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) to step in and investigate what they describe as a thriving paperwork cartel — one that has turned basic government services into a pay-per-view event.
Without these documents, children cannot join school, widows cannot process succession and families cannot access property left behind but the “toll fees” remain firmly in place.
Efforts to reach the Kisiwa Sub-Location assistant chief were futile, as he did not pick up calls.
