Let us set up a digital national database and from it generate an electoral register

An a camera used during the Biometric Voter Registration exercise. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• In the past one year, there has been talk of the government creating a digital database for all Kenyans.
• This will use the same biometric gadgets used by the electoral commission to create the register for the 2013 elections.

By NAFTALI OPEMBE
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In its broadest terms, national security encompasses the requirements to maintain the survival of the State and includes such aspects as security of persons, of institutions, of property, and of the territory, among others.

Maintaining national security is the responsibility of the government of the day.

This is a responsibility conferred to it by the Constitution and guardians of the supreme law must ensure it is never compromised.

Two of the threats to national security are aggression from both external and internal forces such as terror, and militia groups, respectively, and political instability.

For two years, our national security has been under threat from terror gangs, mainly Al-Shabaab.

To date, organised gangs such as Mungiki are still unleashing terror on citizens.

Political contests, as is the case in other countries, are highly emotive events that result in deep divisions among citizens.

A fast healing of such drifts is one of the surest ways to safeguard national security.

Electoral malpractices or acts that will be deemed to tilt the playing field in favour of one candidate or group of candidates by the supervising agency, whether real or perceived, should never arise.

PROTECT NATIONAL SECURITY

Being a constitutional agency, the electoral commission must be above reproach and must at all times work in the best interest of the nation.

Among ways of ensuring the stability of the State is the jealous protection of its national security.

A national “living” database of citizens replete with biometric information is one way of protecting it.

This is no mean feat, but it is not insurmountable. The living database will have information on all citizens. It will act as the principal component from which all other interest groups will generate their operation data.

For instance, security forces will have access to the database to help fight crime.

Government agencies will access it to provide services and the electoral register can be generated from it.

A central authority can be created from different officers — from the intelligence office, the DCI, Registrar of Persons, the electoral commission, immigration, civil society, professional groups, political parties, etc, to create an agency tasked with the creation and administration of the database.

USE BIOMETRIC GADGETS

In the past one year, there has been talk of the government creating a digital database for all Kenyans.

This will use the same biometric gadgets used by the electoral commission to create the register for the 2013 elections.

I have not heard any reaction from opposition parties, meaning they are either not interested, do not see any significance of this database or are oblivious of the benefits it can bring.

It is important for the Opposition to get on board this initiative and work with the government in its implementation.

The creation of a universal database replete with biographic information should be debated in Parliament and a concrete mechanism created for its realisation.

Since the Opposition is keen on initiating electoral reforms as part of their referendum push, they could make the creation of a national database anchored in the Constitution a referendum issue.

Once a mechanism has been drawn to create the database, then an electoral register can easily be generated from it.

The supreme national register will already contain all the biographical data and so there is no reason for a similar task performed again by the electoral commission.

All the electoral commission has to do is to work with the agency created to safeguard the national register to generate an electoral register.

The register can be created from only citizens residing in the country. This can be achieved as soon as several months after the national database has been established.

Then the accuracy of the electoral register can always be counter-checked with data in the national register.

This way, there will always be a national register and there will be no need to waste funds on creating one that may be prone to manipulation.

Once they have the register, then they will need to invite citizens to confirm their registration by accessing the database online or via an SMS message.

Dr Opembe is a research scholar at Iowa State University, USA. (nopember@gmail.com)