IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The issue around BVR at this point is not just about procurement. The main problem around BVR is implementation. BVR is not just a briefcase with sophisticated equipment. It is an integrated information system that comprises hardware, software, data, processes and people. Procurement will only deal with hardware. The devil is in implementing the software and ensuring the information system unlocks the promised benefits. Unfortunately, our politicians have hyped the benefits and created expectations of unrealistic dimensions.

The kits, which are due in the country within the next two weeks, will be provided as a loan to the government.

A statement from the Presidential Press Service following a meeting at State House Nairobi on Friday, said that the Cabinet resolved to support the BVR system as a policy guideline to help build public confidence in the electoral system ahead of the polls in March.

Outgoing Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya David Collins assured President Mwai Kibaki that the kits will be delivered before the start of voter registration next month.

He said the kits will greatly help in the identification of voters when Kenya goes to polls on March 4 next year. President Kibaki termed as timely the intervention of the government of Canada in the acquisition of the kits by the IEBC.

The government has launched a biometric registration exercise for members of the civil services and disciplined services medical scheme.

In the scheme which will also include their eligible dependants, all of them will be able to benefit from air rescue services, which was formally a preserve of the disciplined services.

The just-concluded national election in Ghana has some important lessons for Kenyans. Credited as largely successful by observers, it was not without shortcomings, notwithstanding that Ghana had more time than Kenya to register voters and clean out the e-register.

Speaking at a prize giving day at Pangani Girls High School, Kilonzo said manual registers would re-introduce ghost voters and discredit the poll process.

"It's embarrassing... in fact I wanted Kenya to not only have electronic voter registration but also electronic voting. It's the only way to eliminate dead voters. Kenya is renowned for voter resuscitation more than Jesus! During elections dead people come to vote and people move voters from one location to another which is completely unacceptable," he said.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is counting on cutting-edge technology to prepare a new and more accurate voter’s roll.

With memories of the botched disputed 2007 election still fresh, IEBC is approaching the voter registration knowing full well that a botched voter registration process could have negative consequences for the credibility of the coming election.

He said the tender was expected to be complete ''soon as possible'' to enable the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission start voter registration in readiness for the next year's general election. This statement is expected before Friday.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has defended the biometric registration of community youth engaged in National Youth Service (NYS) projects (cohorts) saying it will help guard against corruption at the bedeviled institution.

President Kenyatta who spoke in Kisumu on Sunday, said the registration will ensure that the “ghost worker,” phenomenon is a thing of the past.

“This is to ensure that only those who work are paid,” he said at stops in Obunga and Kondele.

Die Innenminister der EU-Staaten haben am Donnerstag nur "eine Annäherung" zur Aufnahme biometrischer Daten in EU-Visa und Aufenthaltspapieren erreicht.

The government plans to introduce biometric voting by the next election date in 2012, hoping to use technology to streamline the critical process and eliminate corrupt practices.

Biometrics is the term used to describe automated methods of recognising a person based on a physiological or behavioural characteristics.

On Monday, IEBC cancelled and soon after reinstated the procurement for Biometric Voter Registration kits following a row in the tendering process. IEBC Chief Executive Officer James Oswago had announced the cancelation but was overruled the commission’s Procurement Manager Bernard Nyachio.

Reported in Sabahi Online, last year, 14.3 million Kenyans registered to vote, and this year, up to 12.9 million people may find mistakes in the voter records on election day.

The elections in the country, set to take place on Monday, March 4, 2013, have been called one of the “most important elections since independence.”

Im Frühjahr zeigte sich die Studie des Büros für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung beim Deutschen Bundestag (TAB) zur Biometrie noch recht kritisch: Die tatsächliche Leistungsfähigkeit biometrischer Systeme sei "nicht seriös einzuschätzen". Und verschiedene Tests zeigten, wie leicht sich die biometrischen Systeme überlisten lassen. Doch nun basteln verschiedene Bundesministerien leise an der Weiterentwicklung des Personalausweises hin zu einer Chipausweiskarte mit elektronisch erfassten biometrischen Merkmalen: Sie wollen demnächst eine Machbarkeitsstudie in Auftrag geben.

Die jüngsten Versuche von Bundesinnenminister Otto Schily, den Bundesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz (BfD) Peter Schaar zu maßregeln, werden von Dr. Thilo Weichert, Leiter des Unabhängigen Landeszentrums für Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein und derzeit Vorsitzender der Konferenz der Datenschutzbeauftragten des Bundes und der Länder, zurückgewiesen.