Integrated Population Registration System Launched in Kenya

In February 2015 the Kenyan government implemented the biometric registration system for all citizens 12 years and above. This system was meant to help prevent the duplication and mismanagement of funds for social services. In a follow-up step His Excellency the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyata, launched the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) on 11th March 2015 at the Kenyata International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi. With this development, IPRS will create a single database on all Kenyan residents to improve service delivery & verification of identity to improve security.

Kenya’s partners in the region are on track with this too with the East African Community (EAC) member states having agreed to issue e-passports;  Burundi and South Sudan are already issuing out e-passports, and Uganda has set a 2015 goal for this according to the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control in the internal affairs ministry.

President Uhuru Kenyata while at the IPRS launch stated that “We live in an era of intense integration across borders and continents. Every minute, people the world over are interacting in real time and traveling swiftly in pursuit of social, official and business opportunities. The inter-connectivity and mobility of people has brought vast opportunity… It is therefore imperative for Government to have the means to collect, verify and administer data on every individual resident in our country. This is necessary for Government to provide adequate and efficient socioeconomic services to citizens. It is also critical in order to keep the country safe and free from the activities of undesirable elements.”

Get the President’s full speech here: IPRS Launch Presidential Speech

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