....After Parliamentary Blunder

The CHRONICLE has seen documents that show the registration of newborns fell by 50 percent last year - after a penalty charge for late registrations was mistakenly pitched at ?10,000.

The Registry of Births and Deaths fines parents who register their babies later than 21 days. Last year, the Registry intended to raise the penalty from ?500 to ?1,000. Parliament ratified the level at ?10,000 instead. 'It's a mistake' said the Principal Assistant Registrar in an exclusive interview with this paper on Friday, last week. Mrs. Agyapon-Ntra suggested it might have been a typographical error. But whatever the cause, the Registry is lumbered with a penalty only legal process can change.

Before the new fine was introduced on 10 September 2001, about 20,000 infants under one year old were registered every month. By December the figure was just 8,542. Mrs. Agyapon-Ntra and her colleagues are now trying to attract parents back by amending the penalty conditions - but progress is slow. She is yet to receive official feedback on a proposal to register children under one year for free.

Mrs. Agyapon-Ntra made her comments in the light of a new report by the United Nations Children's Fund. 'Birth Registration - Right from the Start' says many developing countries are struggling with registration - denying children 'an official identity, a recognised name and nationality'. According to Mrs. Agyapon-Ntra, it is not just individuals who suffer. Her concern is with future planning too.

In Ghana, only 56 per cent of estimated births were recorded last year. Without good statistics she says, it is impossible to plan the number of schools or hospital beds that will be needed in the future. Apparently the woes of the Registry run deep. Despite Registry airtime on radio stations, many people fail to realise early registration is important. They register too late - only when they need to enrol at school, get passports or apply for jobs.

The Principal Assistant Registrar added that funding is 'woefully inadequate'. There are 386 registries across the country - but only 342 staff in the Registry service, overstretched and underpaid. The Ministry of Finance is blocking further recruitment, allowing only the replacement of existing staff. There is not enough money for regional officers to hold durbits in villages, or provide a mobile service. And a plan to enlist amateur registrars in 16,000 settlements is on hold because the Community Population Register Programme has no funds to train them.