Political parties to deregister complainants - Data Commissioner

Data Protection Commissioner Immaculate Kassait has said that all persons who found their names registered to parties without consent will be deregistered by the parties.

In a statement, Kassait said that this was arrived at following a meeting between her office and that of the Registrar of Political Parties to resolve the matter.

"My office will continue to engage with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, Political Parties and other Data Controllers and Processors to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act, 2019," she said.

According to Kassait, as of Thursday 24th of June 2021, her office had received over 200 complaints from aggrieved individuals who had been registered to various political parties without their consent.

She noted that her office will develop guidelines for different sectors and create awareness in collaboration with other data controllers and processors, as she called for patience from those affected.

This comes a few days after Kenyans took to social media to protest, following revelations that they had been registered as members of political parties without their knowledge.

ORPP had called on Kenyans to confirm their party membership status through the online portal on e-Citizen.

The office of the Registrar of Political Parties later defended itself saying that recruitment of members is only done by parties.

"Recruitment of members is done by political parties in line with respective party constitutions; section 7, Political Parties Act, 2011, second schedule to Political Parties Act paragraph six," the ORPP said.

In November 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta gazetted the appointment of Immaculate Kassait as data commissioner following her approval by the National Assembly.

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner was established to regulate the processing of personal data and protect the privacy of individuals.