Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Tuesday, April 2, announced significant changes in how Kenya will handle its border control with her neighbours.
Speaking during the first National Border Management Conference attended by delegates from Tanzania, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda, CS Kindiki remarked that it was time to consider the private sector as a key player in border control.
Going into the future, CS Kindiki also revealed that there will be more reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud computing.
“The border of the future is also going to be a synergy connection and shared responsibilities between the public and private players,” Kindiki revealed.
“This area that has been traditionally government-driven is going to be tampered with or a bit influenced by the private sector.”
On why the private sector was going to be involved, Kindiki explained that was due to the increasing role of private players in the whole space of human capital movement and trade.
The Interior CS observed that the private sector would provide border control solutions through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).
“Therefore the private sector is going to have a seat at the table going forward in border control management,” Kindiki explained the vision of the country.
Giving a current assessment of border movement, Kindiki explained that it was riddled with Visas, Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) and a host of other requirements which demanded a lot of paperwork.
Stepping into the future, Kindiki stated that he foresees border movements with minimal paperwork and limited human interaction.
Furthermore, Kindiki expressed that the world would harness technology to ensure that the reduction in paperwork does not compromise border security.
Kindiki remarked that the minimal human interaction would instead heighten border security.
