Rollout of digital IDs starts in Feb

Politics and policy

Central Bank of Kenya governor Njuguna Ndung’u shares a laugh with Mwende Gatabaki, Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service director-general, and KPMG partner Richard Ndung’u (right) during the National Digital Registry Service briefing at the Serena Hotel Oct 23. PHOTO | COURTESY 

By MUGAMBI MUTEGI

In Summary

• Existing ID card holders will start registering for the new generation cards in February and receive the new cards in October 2015 while all new applicants will from July 2016 be issued with the new cards.
• The bulk of the work will be done at registration centres similar to those used for voter registration.
• Kenyans will be required to visit the centres for submission of biometric data -- fingerprints and passport photographs – that will be recorded and deposited into a central database.

Registering for digital national identity cards will start in February in a move that is expected to put into a single document personal information from the tax office, registrar of motor vehicles and the registrar of persons.

Existing ID card holders will start registering for the new generation cards in February and receive the new cards in October 2015 while all new applicants will from July 2016 be issued with the new cards, the agency in charge of the exercise said on Thursday.

“We will be issuing the first new ID cards to qualified Kenyans beginning October 2015. In December of the same year, we will stop issuing the old IDs and the digital ones will become the way of life,” said Mwende Gatabaki, the director-general of Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service (KCFNMS), the State agency that is rolling out the plan. 

“The idea is to provide the country with a national identity platform that will be the cornerstone of our security strategy.”

The migration, which was initially to begin in the third quarter of this year, will be rolled out through a public-private sector partnership model (PPP) for which the government has committed Sh1 billion.

A recent wave of insecurity, including deadly terrorist attacks, have partly been blamed on systemic corruption in Kenya’s identification process, lack of an accurate national database and porous borders.

Terrorists and aliens have effortlessly entered the country using fake and illegally-purchased ID cards and passports, while evading capture.

Ms Gatabaki, a top IT expert seconded from the African Development Bank (AfDB), said some of the new IDs will be issued during house visits (mostly for the elderly and disabled) and from mobile units in remote areas.

The bulk of the work will be done at registration centres similar to those used for voter registration.

Kenyans will be required to visit the centres for submission of biometric data -- fingerprints and passport photographs – that will be recorded and deposited into a central database.

READ: Government to use biometric registration to eliminate ghost workers

Documents like birth certificates, Personal Identification Number (PIN) certificates and driving licences will be scanned and added into an individual’s file in the digital registry.

Registration clerks will also capture digital records of company certificates of incorporation as well as title deeds – all of which will be added to the individual’s particulars. The end result should be a single ID card with a host of information on the bearer.

“The digital registry could also be hosted virtually to enable individuals use their fingerprint for identification in places like banks.”

KCFNMS also plans to also issue foreign nationals and refugees residing in Kenya with special digital ID cards and work permits, where applicable.