Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta will today launch the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) which is set to serve as the single one stop shop for personal information and biometric for both locals and foreigners. The concept was an idea on paper for 21 years having been proposed in 1989 but kicked off in 2010.
Centre of Excellence
The main aim of the system is to provide a comprehensive database for all citizens and enrich national security. The system provides a 360 degree view, can be used to authenticate documents by citizens or identify Kenyans by matching their biometric and photographic details with documents in their possession.The project is currently serving as a center of excellence for other ICT projects to be undertaken by the government. This was confirmed by the president during the just concluded ICT Authority forum.
Phases
The IPRS project is being undertaken in tranches with the first phase seeking to create a master database, details from the elections register, tax register, drivers register, National Social Security Fund (NSSF) register, National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) register and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). This data compounds with critical information on individuals ranging from birth to death register, citizenship, ID card, passport, marriage and alien register.
The system has already been deployed in financial institutions including Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) that uses the platform to conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) in all their money transfer channels. Other organizations such as National Social Security Fund (NSSF), National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and Higher Education and Loans Board (HELB) have adopted it. The IPRS also played a critical role in the Sim Card registration. The government has been keen on rolling out large ICT projects like Huduma and now IPRS.
