The Office and Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) is on the spot for issuing a certificate of registration to Tools for Humanity, a company under which Worldcoin operates outside the legal framework.
While appearing before an Adhoc committee of the National Assembly investigating Worldcoin activities in Kenya, Attorney General Justin Muturi. Made the revelations under the state law.
Muturi said Worlcoin was not licensed to operate in the country as required under the Companies Act.
“Worldcoin is not registered as a company for whatever purpose in Kenya. An application for registration must be accompanied interalia by a company of establishment documents. The establishment documents include a registration certificate,” he said.
The issuance of a certificate to Tools for Humanity Cooperation by the Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait was cited as a glaring omission by ODPC.
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“It is to be observed Mr Chairman that for a foreign country to operate and collect data in the country, the company is required to furnish its establishment document to the data commissioner,” said Muturi.
Further, Muturi noted that of eleven local companies working as agents of the Worldcoin Project, only one was registered.
Sense Marketing, one of the local agents, was registered as a firm operating along Langata-Kitengela Road with one shareholder identified as Kevin Ondumbe.
Despite failing to adhere to Companies Act regulations, MPs questioned why ODPC moved to issue the registration certification to the American Firm.
“Essentially a Data Commissioner can’t register unless the documents given to her are document confirming its registration,” Homabay Town MP Peter Kaluma served.
“Will I be right to say that Tools for Humanities was not correctly registered in the country and so can we conclude that all activities by the firm in Kenya are completely illegal and therefore very strong legal action should be taken against its associates?” Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku posed.
On his part, Principal State Counsel Karen Ndegwa noted that a business registration certificate was a prerequisite for any firm seeking clearance by the Data Commissioner.
“As a foreign company before you embark for certificate processing from the Data Commissioner you must have sought the certificate of business registration system seeking to be compliant with the Kenyan law,” Ndegwa said.
Worldcoin had targeted registering 8 billion people in the cryptocurrency platform that aims to provide a universal global economy by authenticating individuals using retina/iris scans.
In Kenya, the firm operated through local representatives identified as Wangechi Maina and Rael.
Mwende has legal agreements with their local firms listed as Platinum De Plus Limited, EXP Kenya, and Sense Marketing.
Worldcoin offered those who signed up 25 free tokens worth about Sh7,000, drawing thousands of people to multiple sign-up points in the capital, Nairobi.
Thousands of Kenyans flocked to the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi in mid-July to have their eyes scanned.
According to its founders, the project aims to solve one of the main challenges facing the crypto industry, which largely relies on pseudonyms to operate, leaving it vulnerable to spam bots and scams.
More than 2.1 million people have signed up for Worldcoin across the world, with iris scans conducted in 34 countries, according to the company’s website.
