Get ready to vote on the net, says Minister
An IEBC clerk keys in a voter’s ID details during the Biometric Voter Registration exercise at St. Teresa's Girls Secondary School in Nairobi on November 20, 2012. The Homa Bay senatorial by-election will cost more than Sh200 million. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU |
What you need to know:
- Information Communication Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said his ministry was establishing a digital registry collating citizen’s biographical data as well as their assets
- President Uhuru Kenyatta called on ministries to cooperate with the government to consolidate and share government ICT services
Kenyans may vote via the Internet at the next elections.
In presentations made during a Cabinet retreat in Nanyuki on Thursday, Information Communication Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said his ministry was establishing a digital registry collating citizen’s biographical data as well as their assets.
Once the National Digital Registry Services is in place, various government agencies, including Immigration and the electoral commission, will use it.
VOTE ONLINE
“It will enable Kenyans to vote online during general elections and allow movement within the East African region using National Identity cards,” reads the statement.
The data will also be used by security services to arrest criminals. The project builds on what Kenya Revenue Authority started two years ago to map all properties in the country identifying landlords and their tenants.
In January, Mr Matiang’i said his ministry had taken over the KRA project and was planning to create a more comprehensive registry integrating data from utility firms, pension funds, banks and insurance companies.
President Uhuru Kenyatta called on ministries to cooperate with the government to consolidate and share government ICT services. He asked ministers to be more prudent in procuring ICT goods and services.
WASTE PUBLIC RESOURCES
“The procuring of ICT vendor-driven services must stop. We cannot afford to waste public resources on non-priority services,” said the President.
One of the early directives issued by the Jubilee government was to merge three institutions tasked with the management of technology in government operations.
The Kenya ICT Board, the Government Information and Technology Services and the Directorate of E-Government were last year consolidated into the ICT Authority.
