http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040486/replies?c=3821
David had freeepmailed me AlbertaChild’s post 3821 back on 20 July.
"I was thinking about the possibility of a Kenyan birth certificate so I tried to find out where in Kenya this would be found. I came across this book:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=oHR7IeMcayYC&pg=PA442&lpg=PA439&ots=3zDW_oqCeW&dq=Kenya+Birth+Records&sig=ACfU3U309m_2j4LAreI69bvy4GRMwgenDg#PPA439,M1
It gives this address: Principal Civil Registar, P.O. Box 30031, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (011)(254)(2)7461 It also says that “Kenya is divided into districts and it is in the District Registry where the original birth and death certificates are kept. Duplicates are sent to the Central Registry. Cost of a birth certificate is Ksh 10.00.
Obama Sr.’s town is the Kisii District and the capital is Kisii Town.
It also says “The Family History Library of Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed records of Kenya and africa. For further details on their holdings please consult your nearest family History Center.”
On the same page as this information ther is a link to a site Birth.GovtRegistry.com. I tried it and put in the name Barry Dunham with Obama’s birthdate and the state of HI and they came back with one match. However this is a site you have to pay for so I couldn’t find out what they had.
I didn't identify the Family History Center as a Mormon entity. If it in fact is, I believe we can penetrate it.
I don't think the search should be limited to the Kisii district either. The Madsen Report Update says his birth records were in Mombasa which is on the South East Coast of Kenya.
We could indulge in all sorts of speculation--Mombasa is on a connection of the overseas leg of BOA to Vancouver BC; she went there when she couldn't get on the airplane to go back to the US--maybe a better medical facility than the bush.
DrC #4123: I stand corrected (I was searching by city/country, and should have simply searched on Kenya: my bad). Thank you for pointing that out. There are, however, no Kenyan vital records listed in the FH Library catalog.
David: The book in the FH Library is listed in:
ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF AFRICANA BIBLIOGRAPHY. Vol. 1.
(Guides, Collections and Ancillary Materials to African Archival Resources in the United States)
In the bibliography preface, it states, "...the Government of Kenya has sought records of "migrating archives" outside the country. Finally in 1989, the Kenya National Archives published the results of their search in the Guide to Records Retrieved from U.K. and U.S.A. (see item 264; 298-299 for Malawi, and 753 for Zimbabwe)."
The Kenya list in the "Contents" section refers to microfilm holdings at various university libraries throughout the country, as well as the Library of Congress, NYC Public Library, the Hoover Institution in Stanford, the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago and some British locations. The description of the microfilm isn't very detailed, so you would probably have to access each library's holdings to find out if there are vital records included. Michigan State apparently has the largest collection.
David: please excuse my earlier error. I did however, indicate in my original post that the FH Library is run by the Mormons, and it's fairly obvious that it's an LDS facility via the search page I linked. Aside from the fact that no Kenyan vital records are listed in their catalog, I'm curious how to you intend to "penetrate it?"
By the way, you don't have to go to Salt Lake City to access the materials listed in the catalog as "Available." Simply write down the call number of the catalog items you want to research, then find a Family History Center in your area by using the search box on the familysearch.org main page. Go to the local center, submit your request, and wait for the item to be shipped from SLC (the materials can only be used at the local center, and can't be taken home, however).
But, before you do any of the above, why not simply contact the Nairobi Civil Registrar, by mail or phone, per the Google Books link?