Government rolls out real-time document verification to combat certificate forgery

GALGALLO FAYO-PCO

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy (MICDE) is developing a digital platform that can be used to verify documents such as certificates in a real time to eliminate certificate and documents forgery in the country.

The platform, which will be piloted with few institutions before it is rolled out, will connect with systems of institutions.

The ministry is partnering with the Indian Government which has implemented a similar technology called ‘DigiLocker’ to tap into its expertise and learn from its experience.

“We have set up a multi-sectoral team comprising members from different ministries and stakeholders working on the initiative to ensure it aligns with our laws and is fit for purpose.

“Document forgery is an issue that we are ready to eliminate using technology and cut down on time used to verify the documents manually,” MICDE Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo Gitau said.

The CS was speaking during a meeting with a delegation from the Indian Government led by Anish Kumar, the Advisor to India's Ministry of External Affairs.

The current partnership emanates from the memorandum of understanding (MOU) Kenya signed with India in December, 2023.

The MoU intends to promote closer cooperation and exchange of experiences and digital technologies-based solutions in the implementation of digital transformational initiatives in the two countries; with specific focus on enhancement of a digital public infrastructure (DPI).

The CS said the ministry will work towards fully unlocking opportunities presented by such partnership.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Eng John Tanui and Secretary ICT E- Government and Digital Economy Mary Kerema among other senior ministry government officials.

PS Tanui noted that the platform, which will be fully owned by the Kenya Government, will not store any data but instead only work to interconnect data being held by different institutions for real time verification by those seeking to verify.

The PS clarified that the Office of the Data Commissioner is among those to be brought on board to ensure that it aligns with laws protecting data privacy.

The latest engagement follows an earlier meeting in early March that was led by India’s High Commissioner to Kenya Ms Namgya Khampa.

During the meeting Ms Khampa formally invited the CS to the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) summit happening in Mumbai in May.

The summit brings together media CEOs, entertainment icons and creative minds from around the globe.

The CS said on his part said the government intends transform Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) to a modern and well-equipped media house for it to competitively perform its role the national broadcaster. 

Kabogo noted that Kenya and India are keen to tap into the rich culture and technological and innovation prowess of the two countries; especially in entertainment and film industry in which India has a flourishing movie industry.