There were more than 19 000 late registrations of birth in four interior regions within the last five years and there are suspicions that the process may have been abused.
According to the records seen by Stabroek News, in 2010 there were 3,588 late registrations of birth; in 2011, 4,659; in 2012, 3240; in 2013, 2777; in 2014, 3516 and from January to August this year 1516. These figures represent Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine combined.
In 2011, the then government had announced that the Ministries of Amerindian Affairs and Home Affairs were working together to have unregistered births of hinterland residents, registered.
At that time it was found that many of these unregistered persons were born between the 1960s and 1980s. The large number of unregistered citizens was blamed mainly on the fact the many of the births took place at home as health care facilities were miles away. Given the cost attached to travelling to those locations to have the births registered, many opted not to do so.
The then PPP/C government in a bid to remedy the situation made Toshaos ex officio Justices of the Peace, and empowered them to certify affidavits for the late registration of births in their respective villages in order to integrate them into the health system. At the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Community Development Officers and project staff were trained to complete these affidavits and other documents to execute the registration exercise.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the large numbers of persons who had their late registrations approved is raising red flags, particularly in light of the fact that an affidavit is the only criterion which those in Indigenous communities have to fulfil. This is in contrast to what is required of citizens on the coast and in other parts of the country, who have to comply with additional stipulations. It was explained that while the law provides for late registration, it also requires evidence of school attendance along with the affidavit. Over and above that, older siblings or other persons must confirm that they know the applicant.
A source told this newspaper that it had been found that in these four regions all that was required was an affidavit. “So what was happening was that anybody could have gone to a Toshao with an affidavit and get their late registration done”, the source said, adding that a 17-year-old could have claimed he was an 18-year-old. The source said that the number of late registrations in these regions was suspicious. Eighteen years is the age at which one can legally vote.
During the last elections, the then government had expressed concerns about the large increase in the number of persons on the voters list in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine, and the source suggested that late registrations may have been responsible for this.
It was noted that it would be difficult to track down these persons now and to possibly verify the information they had given on their affidavits.
“It seems that once you were from 1, 7, 8 and 9 late registration was a very very easy thing to do”, the source said, adding that these figures highlight the concerns raised by the previous government about the voters lists in those regions.
