Why Kiems kits fail to read fingerprints

Despite the court ordering the IEBC to stick to using Kiems kits for identification, jua kali artisans and some elderly people are having a hard time being recognised and verified.

Hence, they cannot vote.

And some people just have soft finger pads without distinctive ridges and Kiems kits cannot read them.

This also poses a problem for people trying to use fingerprint security systems, insurance cards and other fingerprint identity systems. Maybe they registered initially but subsequently have problems.

Many people across the country were unable to use the Kiems kit for biometric registration and then cast their votes.

A spot check by the Star indicated IEBC officials assisted the elderly at Dandora polling centre in Nairobi. Sometimes a cream is used on the hands and people are asked to hold cups of hot water, and then try again. Press harder on the screen, shift your finger, try another finger, they are told.

Elderly Johnson Kioko Wass one of those who received help after his fingerprints were not recognised by the Kiems kit.

This was the first incident of the kind at the Dandora Primary school polling centre in Embakasi North constituency. But it has occurred elsewhere.

Kioko said he has been working as a jua kali artisan for more than 40 years, quite possibly the reason why his fingerprint ridges have worn down and are unlikely to rejuvenate.

Officials were forced to take Kioko's facial biometrics.

“.. but he still could not be recognised by the system despite being a registered voter. His details are in the list of voters,” Star reporter Seline Teiye reported.

At the Technical University of Kenya, the issue of the kits failing for jua kali Kenyans was also reported.

Reporter Susan Muhindi said artisans are having a had time being identified.

“They only had challenges with a few jua kali guys so far. The IEBC had difficulties capturing their fingerprints,’ she said.

But she noted that they were eventually managed to capture two artisans. 

“The remaining artisans are waiting for Kiems validation forms to sort out the issue of his fingerprints,”she said.

The Court of Appeal on Monday suspended a High Court decision that directed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to use the manual register as a back up at each polling station.

This ruling means the IEBC has to use the kit and only use the manual register when need arises, as in cases where prints can't be read.

Labourers, masons and builders had a hard time with the high tech equipment because their fingerprints could be severely worn down by dealing with abrasive materials.

Experts say it can make fingerprints very hard to read.

The damage is not permanent for some young labourers as the skin rejuvenates as time goes by.

However, if they work with abrasive materials all the time, it will be hard for fingerprints to rejuvenate.

For order people, the skin gets thinner and weaker, making hard to read prints.

According to Scientific American website, there are many documented cases of intentional fingerprint mutilation that usually involve severe damage to the skin. People who don't want to be recognised by their fingerprints may mutilate the finger pads.

The damage is done between the generating layer, where the template of the fingerprint survives, and the upper layer  and the epidermis.

Any cut or burn that goes deeper than the outer layer of the skin can affect the fingerprint pattern permanently.

(Edited by V. Graham)