The Kenyan government has announced that it has finished drafting its access to information and data protection bill that is heading to parliament before the end of May.

Speaking during the World Press Freedom Day convention in Nairobi Kenya last Friday, the cabinet secretary for Information Communication and Technology, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, told attendees that government is working to implement the legislation.

“We have completed the development of four pieces of legislation that are expected to actualise article 34 and 35 of the constitution and shortly the access to information and data protection bill will be heading to parliament,” he said.

The data protection bill 2013 ensures that every person’s personal data is secured according to Article 31 of the constitution that ensures rights to privacy.

But the bill also outlines how people’s data will be collected and stored.

The bill advises that an ‘agency’ will collect and process personal data. The agency is also tasked with safeguarding the data collected.

In turn, this legislation may set a precedence for a planned Kenyan national digital register to be rolled out this year.

The access to information bill is further expected to allow the public with access to information from government, within predefined rules of the law.