The Bamenda III Council has taken a decisive step towards modern public administration with the launch of plans to fully digitalise its civil status registry, a move expected to transform the issuance and management of birth, marriage and death certificates across the municipality.
The announcement was made during a recent statutory council session, where Mayor Fongu Cletus Tanwe disclosed that a dedicated civil status building is currently under construction directly behind the newly completed council hall. The facility, once completed, will house modern equipment and systems designed to support electronic registration and verification of civil status documents.
For years, residents of Bamenda III have grappled with slow processing times, missing records and bureaucratic bottlenecks linked to paper based civil status registration. These challenges have often delayed access to essential documents needed for schooling, employment, travel and social services.
The council’s digitalisation drive seeks to address these long standing problems by introducing computerised registration, electronic issuance of documents and secure data storage, ensuring faster service delivery and improved record integrity.
Welcoming the initiative, the Divisional Officer for Bamenda III, Ayuni Austin Sakah, praised the council executive for acting on a concern he said had been raised repeatedly in previous sessions.
“I want to stress once more the need to digitalise the civil status registry in this council,” he told councillors, adding that Bamenda III should take pride in leading the way within the region.
He went further to suggest the council could emerge as a national reference point.
“Do not be surprised if this council becomes among the very first in the whole country to go digital,” the DO said, urging the municipality to make its progress visible.
According to council sources, the project is being implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aligning with broader efforts to strengthen local governance and decentralisation through technology.
Beyond efficiency, Mayor Fongu Cletus say the digital civil status registry will have a far reaching impact. By reducing errors, limiting document falsification and ensuring reliable backups, the system is expected to restore public confidence in civil status services while easing administrative burdens on council staff.
Once operational, the new civil status centre will run on a stable power supply, including solar energy, to guarantee uninterrupted service, even in the face of electricity challenges.
According to the leadership of the Bamenda III Council, the digitalisation of civil status registration is a signal of intent, placing technology at the heart of service delivery and positioning the municipality as a frontrunner in modern local governance.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Online
Tel: +237 694 71 85 77
