Kenya’s criminal investigators to use IEBC data

10 years ago, Kenya top government officials were embroiled in a multi-billion scam that ripped off colossal sums of cash form the country’s public coffers. Among other things, the infamous ANGLO LEASING was about a contract signed by the government for the setting up of a forensic laboratory for use by the Kenya Criminal Investigations Department(CID), renamed Directorate of Criminal Investigations upon adoption of a new constitution in 2010. This laboratory, if put up, would have gone a long way in helping nab criminals by use of forensics. The country’s electoral body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), in the voter registration exercise preceeding the March 4 election, used Biometric Voter Registration, which captured important information on over 12 million voters electronically. This includes all fingerprints and a passport size photo of each of the voters. This huge database could aid our country’s security forces greatly if used to conduct investigations. Do you think IEBC should share this database with the Police? Or should the information be used solely for its intended purpose, elections? Have your say.