A Parliamentary Committee convened by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has recommended shut down of WorldCoin activities in Kenya.
In its findings dated September 30, the committee directed the state to formulate policies governing virtual assets and virtual assets service providers in Kenya. The process should be carried out within six months should their report be adopted.
Also, the 15-member team wants the company's virtual systems disabled after discovering that it continued to collect data despite its services being suspended.
“The registration of Kenyans by Worldcoin online App is still going on despite the pendency of a court order and other administrative directions halting the same in entirety,” read the report in part.
The lawmakers also recommended that investigations be carried out on the Tools for Humanity Corp., the company behind WorldCoin, with the view of leveling charges against the company over its conduct.
Members who formed the team were drawn from the Departmental Committees on; Administration and Internal Security, Communication, Information and Innovation (ICT), and Tourism and Wildlife.
They included Mburu Kahangara (Lari), Caroline Ng'elechei (Elgeyo Marakwet), and Sara Korere (Laikipia North) who are members of the Administration Committee.
John Kiarie (Dagoretti South), Geoffrey Wandeto (Tetu), Gideon Kimaiyo (Keiyo South), Shakeel Shabbir (Kisumu East), and nominated MP Irene Mayaka were drawn from the Communication, Information and Innovation Committee among others.
The recommendations came barely a month after President William Ruto met the company's chief executive officer Sam Altman during his investment trip in the US.
Ruto met Altman in San Francisco, California on Friday, September 15, during the Kenya-US Business Roadshow organised by the U.S. Government’s Prosper Africa initiative and the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.
A month prior, the High Court issued an injunction barring World Coin from processing any data collected from Kenyans pending a suit filed challenging its conduct.
WorldCoin came under fire in August after scanning the irises of Kenyans in exchange for a token of Ksh7,000.
