Kenyan Government Seeks to Introduce Digital ID Cards
The National government will soon introduce new digital ID cards that will hold the data of every Citizen.
Speaking during the seventh ID4Africa Augmented general meeting at Kenya College of Insurance in Nairobi, President Ruto said that the government plans to digitize its civil registrations and vital statistics system.
“The government is excogitating the implementation of civil registration and vital statistics system that meets imperatives of a new digital era. The new system will be able to assign unique personal identification numbers at birth to all persons born in Kenya,” said the head of state.
President Ruto further said that the new ID cards will help in monitoring the movement of passengers in and out of the Country.
“The government is going to upgrade the current National Identity Card into a National Digital Identity Management System and adopt the most sophisticated advanced passenger information solution to address entry and exit at our borders and ports,” President Ruto added.
Immigration Principal Secretary Prof Julius Bitok noted that if everything goes according to plan, the targeted date for the rollout will be 16th September 2023 the same date which marks the Global milestones in digital identity.
“As we reflect on Unique Personal Identification (UPI), we are very keen to identity September 16th as the day the government will be able to roll out some of the activities to support the UPI which will be the foundation for our smart identity,” said Bitok.
UPI will be used as an Identification Card, National Health Insurance Fund, Kenya Revenue Authority, and also allow Kenyans to easily access close to 5,000 State services after the launch.
Cabinet Secretary of Interior Security Kithure Kindiki said that the new electronic ID will contain a machine-readable chip and QR code.
By Lawrence Mutie and Claudia Jepkoech
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