SURVEILANCE STATE: Interior Ministry Set To Link CCTVs To National ID Database
The Ministry of Interior intends to connect the National Registration Bureau database with new mass surveillance technologies across the country’s five cities in order to expedite criminal investigations, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen disclosed.
During an interview with Citizen TV on Monday, June 22, Murkomen stated that the technology will allow security agents to match faces taken by CCTV cameras with official government records.
This will contain identification images, allowing authorities to rapidly identify people accused of committing crimes.
According to Murkomen, the National Police Service is currently unable to automatically identify suspects captured on surveillance cameras because Kenya lacks a facial recognition database integrated with official identity records.
“We do not have a database with facial recognition technology that already has the facial recognition for Kenyans, where you merge the faces you get from the cameras to the database to establish the credentials of an individual,” Murkomen stated.
CS Kipchumba Murkomen: With this project, we are hoping to conclude procurement in 2 months, and rolling out would take 3-6 months. The IC3 was already in place and functioning. What you avoid in that situation is that cameras should not be put in private places, but in public… pic.twitter.com/Z2dGhmYhsL— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) June 22, 2026
The CS explained that the government intends to incorporate the technology into the Integrated Command, Control and Communication Centre (IC3), which is currently undergoing upgrades.
The proposed system would allow police officers to compare images captured by CCTV cameras with photographs stored in official government records, making it easier to identify suspects linked to criminal activities.
“Once we establish this technology, we will slowly build in the data of various people based on the information in the ID,” he added.
“Police will now be able to use the faces of Kenyans with their pictures in the official data.”
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Currently, police rely on manually reviewing CCTV footage and releasing images of suspects to the public in the hope of receiving information that can aid investigations.
The revelations come days after the ministry announced that it is planning to roll out surveillance cameras in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret and Nyeri to curb criminal activities.
Murkomen disclosed that the government is in the final stages of procuring the technology.
The authorities are hoping to conclude the procurement process within two months at a cost not exceeding Ksh25 billion.
Nairobi is expected to be among the first beneficiaries of the project, with the rollout projected to take between three and six months after procurement is completed.
On privacy and data protection, the CS insisted that the cameras would only be installed in public places and not private areas such as hotels or homes.
SURVEILANCE STATE: Interior Ministry Set To Link CCTVs To National ID Database
