Kenya Approves Four Electronic Certification Providers

By Victor Mujidu

The Kenyan government says it has licensed four electronic certification providers (E-CSPs), with nine others under consideration, as it seeks to secure online transactions through verifiable digital signatures.

A Certification Service Provider (CSP) , also referred to as a Certificate Authority (CA), is an entity that is licensed by the Commission to issue digital signatures/certificates for use by subscribers.

The need for certification of electronic signatures arises under the Evidence Act (Cap. 80), which provides that in order to ascertain whether an electronic signature is that of a person by whom it purports to have been affixed, the court may direct that person or the certification service provider to produce the electronic signature certificate.

A digital certificate confirms the identity or other significant characteristics of the signatory and contains the public key of the signatory.

This will make it difficult to forge documents such as contracts, cheques and also enable busy signatories to sign paper work from wherever they are across the world.

The electronic certification licences issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) will enable ICT Authority to provide digital signature for e-government services.

Geda, Emudhra, TendaWorld Limited, and the Information and Communication Technology Authority have been licensed to offer digital electronic certification to application developers and consumers including businesses and individuals.

“Trust is the foundation of every ecosystem and every market.

To achieve our shared ambition for the digital transformation of our economy, it is paramount to secure our cyber space and put in place the framework that will facilitate the secure transfer of information required for e-commerce, internet banking and many other applications,” said David Mugonyi, Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya, at the second National Public Key Infrastructure Forum.

According to the CAK, the authority has also operationalized the National Kenya Computer Incident and Response Team Coordination Centre (National KE-CIRT/CC) to detect, prevent and respond to cyber threats.

Kenya is also developing the National Public Kenya Infrastructure (NPKI) framework to build trust in the digital ecosystem.

The NPKI framework combines the regulatory framework and the technology to facilitate the rollout of digital certification services in the country, which the authority says it has achieved by deploying the Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Kenya. CA has invited WebTrust to begin the process of accrediting its Root Certification Authority infrastructure.

Policy Framework 

Parliament has reviewed various laws such as the Business Laws Amendment Act of 2020 and the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations to allow for digital certification.

The impact of these legislative amendments is the legal recognition of electronic signatures, documents, and registries, increase transparency and protection of businesses, and help put in place a secure and tamper-proof digital identity framework, which will boost consumer confidence.

“We are also fully-seized of the prospects of digital signatures enhancing customer experience across the public and private sectors, a demonstration of deliberate intentions by institutions to respond to the dynamic needs of their customers,” said Edward Kisiang’ani Principal Secretary Broadcast and Telecommunication.

“Trust is the foundation of every ecosystem and every market.  To achieve our shared ambition for the digital transformation of our economy, it is paramount to secure our cyberspace and put in place the framework that will facilitate the secure transfer of information required for e-commerce, internet banking, and many other applications,” he said on behalf of ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo, who was absent.

As one of the agendas pushed by President William Ruto, the digital space seeks to revolutionize the country’s economy by accommodating both the private and public sectors by offering them digital certificates to operate their services.

Through the offering of digital certificates, services will be offered in a more convenient way.

“With world class digital certification services, consumers are now able to verify the integrity of documents that have been signed electronically, as well as ascertain the identity of the sender.