Assessment of records classification systems in the security registry at Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

Abstract

The Ministry was earlier called Ministry of Justice and later changed to “Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.” This was done to reflect the need of handling constitutional amendments as and when they arise. Records Classification is an important aspect in the management of records in the registry today. Classification ensures systematic organization of documents and facilitates information retrieval. However, classification systems are not prevalent in records management when compared to their use in other information fields. The overall objective of the study was to understand critically the classification of records in the security registry, for instance on how, when and why it’s done. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the types of records kept and classified in the security registry, to find out the records classification system in the registry, to identify the challenges faced by the classification system, to provide solutions to improve the classification system of the Security Registry and finally to design a records classification system for the registry. The study was conducted in the security registry with a study population of ten (10) respondents for example, Records officers, Records assistants, and Records users. The research design used was qualitative research approach. The tools used were observation, document review, and interview guides. The sampling technique used was purposive random sampling. The findings indicated that; types of records generated and managed in the security registry were Legal, Financial, Administrative, Historical and Special records. In addition to that, different classification systems were used that’s to say alphabetical, alphabetical topical, straight numeric, and chronological classification systems. The challenges encountered were inadequate finances to cater for the activities run in the registry, time consuming especially during the time of retrieval, complexity of records which sometimes causes misfiling of records. The recommendations were use of easily recognized codes for easy retrieval, conduct awareness or training programs to curb down unskilled labor, creation of work plans or time shifts, acquisition of more funds from the government and automate the classification system in the registry.