[markomalley]

But this: David Mwangi, the head administrator for the hospital (Coast General. Mombasa) has been deluged with requests for information. Unlike the Kenyan government's clampdown on info, he is allegedly not so constrained. Are we then to believe him when he tells us that, in response to the deluge, he (presumably his staff) went through the entire year of 1961 BY HAND (they don't have computerised records for 1961) and found nothing.

Consider this: the institution is now called "Coast Hospice" -- slightly different mission than before.

Also, a birth CERTFICATE would be easier to lose than a birth REGISTER. (or easier for Rahmbo to lose it for them). It is a single piece of paper stored in a file box someplace, unless it was reduced to a spool of microfilm (in which case, it would be sequentially placed in the midst of other certificates).

So the lack of a birth certificate at a hospital wouldn't bother me as much as the lack of a birth REGISTER maintained by the government.

FWIW / YMMV