Call for blockchain awareness timely as we attempt to tame graft

What you need to know:

  • The problem of counties losing millions of money to corrupt leaders arises from the centralisation of the national kitty.
  • Blockchain would make decentralisation possible with every county being digitally tracked down on the use of public money.
  • Such accuracy will inform the National Treasury about how money was used before more is allocated to a county.

Late last month, I attended this year's Nairobi Tech Week at Strathmore University, on which students, tech experts, researchers, innovation establishments and enthusiasts had converged to share knowledge.
There were various interesting topics inside the Thomas More Building, all with presentations and question-and-answer sessions, as tech brains had a conversation towards a consensus on the bridging of the skills gap in the innovation space in Kenya. But one presentation caught my eye: Blockchain.

CORRUPT OFFICIALS
Experts called for a private-public partnership on user education regarding its use in enhancing transparency and accountability in corporate and public institutions.
Sadly, only less than one per cent of tech-savvy Kenyans understand the meaning of blockchain — despite having come across the word in cryptocurrency sites in their pursuit to comprehend digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. And with a dip in the reading culture in Kenya, only a few people have read Understanding the Blockchain, a book by Benjamin Arunda that expounds the meaning of blockchain in a humorous but illustrative way.
This just highlights the knowledge gap in the country, which can only be bridged through training to guarantee the gateway to full acceptance and application of the technology.
But some professionals in various sectors have heard of the Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) taskforce created by the government to research and present a report on the two tech fields. They should have a strong grasp of this technology before it is rolled out.
If the government works closely with the private sector in educating Kenyans on how blockchain works, and why we need it as a country, there will be no resistance when they see it being used to tame corrupt officials. It will make no sense implementing the technology when the users themselves have no clue on what the platform entails.

VITAL DATA
And although the government has indicated signs of using the technology to curb fraud in banking, healthcare and land ownership, users must be well informed about the power of a ‘digital block’.
The sweet point of the technology is that anyone can learn it anytime. We have to create public trust about this innovation among Kenyans to get them armed with blockchain skills before we go full throttle on its use.
As the taskforce report, which was completed last November, awaits approval by the Information and Communication Technology Cabinet Secretary, Kenyans should be trained about this tool that they hear will end corruption.
Despite the technology being a success when Sierra Leone tested its accuracy against its electoral commission’s tally in the presidential election last year, the information was taken with a pinch of salt because the electorate was not consulted; neither did the voters understand it.
While blockchain is the only technology that can enable a real time audit of voluminous transactions in a distributed digital ledger system without human tampering, creating trust in it must begin with mass enlightenment on its ability to tame corruption by blocking the siphoning of public funds.
This technology is a major breakthrough in monitoring the use of county funds from the national government as it has the capacity to unmask the thugs of public cash in real time. It gives no room for hackers to access vital data and, hence, enable theft of money or confidential information. To succeed, one must hack every ‘block’ — and there are millions of them.

USE OF TAXES
The problem of counties losing millions of money to corrupt leaders arises from the centralisation of the national kitty. Blockchain would make decentralisation possible with every county being digitally tracked down on the use of public money. Such accuracy will inform the National Treasury about how money was used before more is allocated to a county.
At present, we only have five tech organisations spreading the blockchain gospel in the country: Blockchain Association of Kenya, Bithub Africa, DLBRT Blockchain for Business, Nairobi EOS community and Andela Kenya.
Hopefully, blockchain evidence will be legally binding in court, which would revolutionise the quest for justice in Kenya.
This is the technology that will ensure proper use of taxes, boost job creation, ease doing business, brand the national image, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor and move us to a second world economy.
To those more concerned with bitcoins though, just know that blockchain is a reality but cryptocurrencies are a mirage. Blockchain will not save you when the value of digital currencies plunges.

Mr Ngila is the online editor, ‘Taifa Leo’. [email protected] @faustination