ID Crisis Bars Over 1M Kenyans From Government Services
ID crisis has barred more their one million Kenyans from accessing important government services ahead of today’s court ruling.
President William Ruto’s administration is yet again anxiously awaiting on another ruling scheduled for Tuesday which may derail one of his legacy projects.
In December last year, the High Court of Kenya halted the rollout of Maisha Namba, which was aimed at replacing Huduma Namba, due to a lack of a data protection impact assessment.
Speaking to newsdaily via phone, a source at the Ministry of Interior revealed that they are facing a backlog in the production of ID cards as well as Huduma Namba cards after the ruling was delivered.
“We are facing a backlog in the printing of IDs as we had configured the systems in readiness of Digital IDs,” he stated.
“The backlogs emanate from the court ruling that placed an injunction on the Maisha Number pending the determination of the case tomorrow.”
The official launch of the Maisha Namba card, which will replace the standard identification card, is anticipated to be approved by the court tomorrow.
ID Crisis Bars Over 1M Kenyans From Government Services
On November 1st of last year, the state launched the project’s experimental phase, giving particular attention to two groups of Kenyans.
At the time, Immigration and Citizen Services PS Prof. Julius Bitok informed the media that the pilot program will concentrate on new applications.
“On a trial basis, Maisha Cards will be given to all Kenyans turning 18 in any area of the country. By doing this, we can determine whether there are any mistakes or problems prior to the penultimate launch,” the speaker said.
Every day, 10,000 people apply for new identification cards, while 5,000 apply for duplicates, according to the PSC. This translates to over 200000 Kenyans applying for IDs every month. This means by the end of next month applications could hit 1 million if the legal impasse is not resolved.
The Maisha Card will be equipped with a unique personal identification number (UPI) called Maisha Namba, which will serve as the primary and permanent means of identification and registration for those who own it.
After the verdict on the deployment of police officers to Haiti and the rollout of the housing levy, the government will face more challenges if the court rejects the rollout.
ID Crisis Bars Over 1M Kenyans From Government Services
