The government will fast track the replacement of ID cards and personal registration documents lost through flooding.

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said an emergency desk for reporting lost documents including birth certificates and passports has been set up at Nyayo House in Nairobi.

“We have set up a centre at Nyayo House where you can report as an emergency so that those who have lost their documents in the raging floods can replace them in the shortest time possible,” The PS who led a tree planting exercise at the Kenya Meat Institute in Mavoko, Machakos County said similar emergency desks will be set up across the country.

“We are ready to move around the country to ensure each one of them has a new document in the shortest time possible.” Over 286,000 people have been affected by flooding in the country with close to 47,000 households displaced and over 200 deaths reported in 37 of the country’s 47 counties.

The flooding has seen many Kenyans lose property as well as personal registration documents that are crucial for day-to-day identification and transactions.

Meanwhile, the PS appealed to Kenyans to take the National Tree Planting Day seriously as a means of mitigating flooding and other weather extremes.

“We will plant 3,000 trees in this area while joining the rest of Kenyans to ensure there are enough tress to help us combat flooding and mitigate the effects of climate change,” added Bitok

The government is targeting the planting of at least four million trees a month and 15 billion trees in ten years to rollback the adverse effects of climate change.

The State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services has requested to adopt a piece of land at Portland Cement to plant trees yearly and take care of them to maturity.