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{
    "id": 1583329,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1583329/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 287,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to second this Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill that has been ably moved by the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning that considered this Bill. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as he has said, Kenya is indeed a beacon of innovation and growth in Africa in the sector of financial services. Indeed, as the Chairperson alluded, M- PESA is such one example of financial inclusion services in the financial services sector, where Kenya has not just become a beacon of innovation, but also become a focus point for the entire world. Even before America, the Silicon Valley, and India, and other countries moved into mobile money transfers, Kenya led the way. Therefore, we cannot afford to be left behind in the space of virtual asset. It is important that we have a legal framework that will form the basis of the regulatory work of the virtual assets themselves, the regulation of virtual assets systems, and also the service providers of virtual assets. Hon. Temporary Speaker, Kenya has witnessed increased adoption and use of virtual assets, particularly in payments and investments over the years and these assets present very good opportunities to promote digital finance, boost commerce, especially e-commerce, and even create a new class of digital jobs. Our young, innovative men and women in our universities and those graduating from our mid-level technical and technology colleges have an opportunity to explore the digital jobs that come with these virtual assets. Unfortunately, the benefits of these virtual assets have also been challenged by cyber security risks, data privacy risks, fraud, and scams in the country. The best case example is the World Coin episode about one or two years ago. I remember the hullaballoo that was there at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) with World Coin and Bitcoin but those are the challenges that come with these virtual assets. There are also questions that touch on not just cyber security, but also data privacy, and you remember the challenges then with World Coin was on data privacy. The challenges that were there was where the data collected was being taken to, which included the scanning of people's eyes and a lot of private data. We have a lot of challenges with data privacy, cyber security risks, fraud, and what are outright scam where many Kenyans have been scammed in the pretext of buying Bitcoins; some that are just Ponzi games that are sponsored by innovative people in the fraud industry, because fraud is also a very huge industry. Many of those people, including some who are in our space, are involved in what has been christened The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informationpurposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}