How to verify a Kenya Citizen

Overview

The East African country Kenya is expecting to have a strong economic recovery as the nation’s vaccination gains momentum and the services industry rebounds from a brutal pandemic fallout. According to forecasts, Kenya is growing at a 6.6% rate from an estimated 0.6% in 2020. The International Monetary Fund stated that this is the highest growth rate in at least a decade driven by increased activity in the service sector.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Status

Kenya is not on the FATF List of Countries that have been identified as having strategic AML deficiencies.

Regulators

Central Bank of Kenya

The Central Bank of Kenya, established in 2010, is responsible for formulating monetary policy to achieve and maintain price stability. The Bank promotes financial stability; an effective and efficient payment, clearing, and settlement system; develops and implements foreign exchange policies; holds and manages foreign exchange reserves; issuing currency; and is the banker for, adviser to, and fiscal agent of the Government.

Capital Markets Authority (CMA)

The Authority was established under the National Treasury and Planning Act on December 15, 1989. The CMA is a regulating body with the responsibility of supervising, licensing, and monitoring the activities of market intermediaries, including the stock exchange and the central depository and settlement system and all the other persons licensed under the Capital Markets Act.

Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG)

The ESAAMLG is a regional body established to combat money laundering and terrorist financing by ensuring the adoption of FATF’s 40 Recommendations. Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe make the members of this group. It also includes several regional and international observers such as AUSTRAC, Commonwealth Secretariat, East African Community, FATF, IMF, SADC, United Kingdom, United States of America, UNODC, World Bank, and World Customs Organization.

Relevant regulations

On March 3, 2017, the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, signed the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill into law. The Amendment Bill would strengthen the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) by giving them the power to impose civil penalties against persons (both natural and juridical) who defy its authority. Yet, in 2020, the country ranked among significant money laundering jurisdictions globally, with transactions totaling 1.78 billion USD.

Kenyan verification available

Any Kenya citizen can be verified using government, commercial or credit data sources. Based on the documentation verified against the data sources you can validate the name, date of birth (DOB), and address.

Kenya citizens can be verified using the following documents:

National Identity Card:

The Kenyan national ID is issued by the Embassy of the Republic of Kenya. All Kenyans who attain the age of 18 years are eligible for the card. Kenyans who acquire citizenship by registration are also entitled to allotment of the identity card. You can verify your customers’ DOB, gender, name, and card number.

Passport:

The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government under the Republic of Kenya issues the Kenyan passport and other travel documents. You can verify your customers’ nationality, name, and DOB.

Driver Licence:

In 2012, the National Transport and Safety Authority ( NTSA) of Kenya was established to harmonise the operations and help in effectively managing the road transport department and issuing licenses. You can verify your customers’ name, address, DOB, and Licence number.

AML Screening:

Global watchlists can identify ifKenya citizens are high-risk individuals or entities. You can screen your customers against PEPs, Sanctions, and adverse media lists.

Author Sara Singh Tak, Data Zoo Marketing Specialist

About Data Zoo

Instantly verify your Kenya customers with access to 90% coverage. We utilise superior independent; government, credit, utility and commercial data sources to provide industry-leading match rates and superior ~2.4 second response times. Depending on your AML, CTF, KYC and identity requirements, we provide an adaptable model that allows risk-based profiling, customised rulesets, multi-source verification, search sequencing, pre-validation, ongoing match results, and historical transactions.

Originally published at https://www.datazoo.com on September 30, 2021.