The Kenyan Government has said it will register all Kenyans afresh in a new national digital database. Designed to assist the Government in addressing security and planning issues, the database will contain biometric details of all people, as well as information about land, establishments and assets.

Ministries of Information, Communication and Technology and Interior and Coordination of National Government will spearhead the exercise. The project will also assist in the identification of people holding forged or fake identification documents.

Deputy President William Ruto said: “In order to address the prevailing security challenges, we intend to consolidate all current registers of persons into a single national register with accurate and relevant information.”

Ruto said there were gaps in the different registers currently being held by the Government. He gave the example of the missing links in birth registration, Personal Identification Number, Public Service Commission, National Social Security Fund and National Hospital Insurance Fund registers and voter registration among others.

Ruto has met with commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to seek their input on how best the Government can register all Kenyans. The Commission has the technical expertise on registration matters since it used biometric voter listing in the run-up to the 2013 General Election.

The commission led by chairman Issack Hassan said the proposed registration is an important undertaking that will make the work of IEBC easier and also cut costs. “With an accurate and credible database an electoral commission will not need to conduct a parallel voter registration as it can draw information from the national database,” Hassan said.

It is anticipated registration will take a period of up to six months once the Government has the required infrastructure in place.