National Registration Bureau doubts that IEBC can deliver digital IDs

There are thousands of  illegal immigrants in the US. So for the Government to say it will bring a foolproof system is a lie.

By JUMA KWAYERA

Nairobi, Kenya: The Government’s new plan to register Kenyans afresh has been thrown into confusion with key departments saying they were unaware of how it would work.

Senior officials at the National Registration Bureau (NRB) said they doubted the capacity of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to deliver third generation identity cards in six months. IEBC, on the other hand, said it is only giving technical advice on the project announced by Deputy President William Ruto earlier in the week.

And NRB Director Reuben Kimotho distanced the bureau from the latest developments, saying he does not know how the exercise is going to be carried out.

“The best placed authorities to respond to your questions are the Office of Deputy President, IEBC and the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology. We do not know whether the equipment to be used is compatible with what we had in mind. I have no information about how it will be done,” Mr Kimotho said.

The IEBC, still smarting from the indignity of bungled transmission of elections results from tallying centres in the last election, is preferred by the State to carry out the exercise instead of the Office of the Registrar of Persons.

Registrars of Persons, who say they have been sidelined, have raised the red flag over the biometric technology to be used in the exercise as the Government seeks to flush out illegal immigrants, as Interior ministry takes priority in the wake of escalated terrorism threats.

Senior officials at NRB in Nairobi warn that the technology in use is obsolete and prone to abuse by corrupt elements in Government.

IEBC is reluctant to be drawn into the fray, saying it role is restricted to offering “technical advice only.”

Through its Communications Officer Tabitha Mutemi, the elections agency clarified: “It is not true that we are going to issue ID cards. Our constitutional mandate is restricted to organising elections and registering voters, not citizens.  We are going to offer technical advice to the National Registration Bureau, nothing more.”  Ms Mutemi would not elaborate on the nature of technical advice.

The exercise set to commence in June has come under increased public scrutiny to hasten issuance of the tamper-proof identity cards. The card contains a microchip that stores biodata of the holder that is difficult to interfere with. Besides the identity number, the data on the card will include fingerprints, photo, tax compliance identification (PIN) number and driving licence number, among other things.

Contacted, Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka expressed surprise at the turn of events. While agreeing that ID card issuance falls under the ministry, Mr Njoka said the ministry had had not been furnished with details of how the exercise will be carried out.

“Like you, I also heard of it when the Deputy President made the announcement,” he explained. 

Asked why the project failed to take off, former minister for Immigration Otieno Kajwang termed the process as one that elicits immense interest to the detriment of homeland security.

“At the time of handing over the docket, we were on the verge of starting the exercise. Twice successful tenders had been rejected by the PPOA (Public Procurement Oversight Authority). The first was rejected on grounds that tender did not specify whether turnover report was to be filed monthly or annually. Obviously, such reports are filed annually. The second tender was shot down on grounds of lacking specifications. You have to look at who is in charge of national ID card production to appreciate why it is difficult to for such an exercise to progress uninhibited,” Kajwang says.

Senior officers at the national office who spoke to The Standard on Saturday in confidence say the inability by the IEBC to retrieve biometric data during the last general election, raises serious doubts about the agency’s capacity to shield such vital national data against external interference as was witnessed during the aborted live relay of the elections of results from tallying centres.

The biometric equipment procured by IEBC failed to read voters’ fingerprints necessitating voting to be done manually.

“The companies IEBC used to procure the equipment are the same ones that were rejected by National Registration Bureau for lack of the expertise, financial capacity and technology to undertake such a sensitive exercise. The mandate of ID issuance should be left with the ministry of interior and the relevant departments.

During my tenure, some people tried hard to donate the equipment to the Ministry of Interior Affairs,” avers Kajwang.

NRB officials say illegal immigrants are not a problem unique to Kenya only. They cite the US, which they argue despite its technological advancement and superior security machinery it still teems with millions of illegal immigrants of Hispanic, Asian and African origins.

“There are thousands of Kenyan illegal immigrants in the United States because of the benefits the country offers. So for the Government to say will bring in a system that is foolproof, it is a lie. The national registration has failed the country to where we are because of the provincial administration. It is a fact that the authorities have in past frustrated the issuance of the third generation of passports and IDs,” a senior registrar of persons explains.

The announcement last week by Mr Ruto that the Government intends to flush out illegal immigrants through issuance of biometric identity cards has elicited strong reaction from within and outside the governing Jubilee coalition.