The government has unmasked the faces behind Worldcoin activities in Kenya even as it revealed the cryptocurrency firm is not licensed to operate in the country.
The revelation came just a day after Interior CS Kithure Kindiki suspended the firm's activities in Kenya to pave the way for a probe into the legality of its operations.
The CS on Thursday appeared before Parliament to among other issues state the precautionary steps taken by the government on the already mined data.
The aforesaid entity is not registered as a legal entity in Kenya," Kindiki said.
"Preliminary investigations reveal that the entity has hired a company in Kenya called Sense Marketing to do the data capture for them in the country," the CS added.
"The local representatives of Worldcoin are Mr Emmanuel Otieno who is described to be in charge of operations and a Ms Rael Mwende who is described as the Country Manager," he said.
The CS said both individuals have been under interrogation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) since Wednesday.
"Among the foreign nationals associated with Worldcoin, are a Mr Poitr Piwowarczyk who is on record to have entered Kenya on several occasions, the last one being in June 2023," Kindiki said.
He said the foreigner arrived in the country on June 11 and left on June 25, 2023.
"As a precautionary measure, the Immigration authorities have been directed to ensure that no persons whether Kenyan or foreign nationals associated with this entity leaves Kenya without the clearance of the Director of Criminal Investigations who is in charge of the ongoing investigations."
Investigations will also cover any persons of interest who may be outside Kenya.
Kindiki said investigations are aimed at establishing the authenticity and legality of Worldcoin's activities, the safety and protection of the data harvested and how the harvesters intend to use the data.
The CS was responding to questions raised by Manyatta MP John Mukunji.
The MP had among other issues sought to know the source of the money being used to pay participants and who stands to benefit from the data mined.
Worldcoin, which commenced the registration exercise on Monday, was given an incentive of cryptocurrency tokens worth approximately Sh7,000 on the condition that the beneficiaries allowed the scanning of their eyeballs.
Thousands of Kenyans trooped to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre to cash in on the free cash before the exercise was suspended on Wednesday over data protection concerns.
"The government is not aware of the source of funds. Part of the multi-agency team mandate will be to investigate the source of the money being issued to the participants and the beneficiaries of this activity.
