Online database of all Kenyans to start in October
Ms Mwende Gatabaki, the acting director-general of Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Services. She said the main reason for the registration is to enable the country tackle national security challenges. FILE PHOTO | DENISH OCHIENG
What you need to know:
- Once complete, information about any Kenyan — including name, age, relatives, property owned and residence — will be available to government agencies at the click of a button.
- She said the information will also be used by banks, insurance firms, utility firms and other members of the Association of Kenya Credit Providers on a commercial basis.
- Citizens will be issued with a digital ID, e-passport and e-driving licence.
A plan to create an online database of all Kenyans will begin in October starting with civil servants.
Everyone will be required to present their identification cards, birth certificates and residential addresses. The government will then capture biometric data — facial image, finger prints and iris scan.
The registration, known as Umoja Kenya, will be implemented by the Kenya Citizens & Foreign Nationals Management Service under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government.
“We will start with the public service in October. We expect to have covered about 70 per cent of the country by June 2015,” Ms Mwende Gatabaki, the acting director-general of the service, said on Thursday.
This is a State corporation formed from the merger of four departments in the previous Ministry of Immigrations and Registration of Persons that included the civil registry department, national registry bureau and immigrations department.
Ms Gatabaki said it would cost about Sh9 billion, with biometric registration points at all border points to capture the details of everyone coming into the country.
The data collected would be linked to other existing databases such as the lands registry to create “one single source of truth” for all Kenyans.
CLICK OF A BUTTON
Once complete, information about any Kenyan — including name, age, relatives, property owned and residence — will be available to government agencies at the click of a button.
It will also help identify foreigners who may have corruptly acquired identification documents.
Kenya has been the victim of terror attacks in the past few years, believed to be carried out by terror groups from Somalia.
“We will get to a point where you will not get basic public services without presenting your digital ID,” Ms Gatabaki said.
She said the information will also be used by banks, insurance firms, utility firms and other members of the Association of Kenya Credit Providers on a commercial basis.
Citizens will be issued with a digital ID, e-passport and e-driving licence.
Former information and technology permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo called for the fast-tracking of the Information and Data Collection Bill to take care of concerns about the security of individual personal details.
