Kenya pushes on with Huduma Namba as compulsory digital ID amid controversy
Published: 3/Jan/2022
Source: Biometric Update
By Ayang Macdonald
New proposals already in Kenya’s Parliament in the form of a bill seek to introduce multiple changes to the country’s Huduma Namba digital ID scheme which, since its launch in 2019, has elicited a lingering controversy.
One of the changes, according to many local reports such as one by People’s Daily, makes Huduma Namba the only proof of ID in replacement of the current national ID cards which the government plans to progressively withdraw from official use.
According to the new bill which is sponsored by National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya, also proposes fines of up to Sh10,000 (approximately US$88.35) for those who will fail to show up for digital ID registration or include their children in the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) databases which Huduma Namba is built on.
As People’s Daily reports, another significant proposal in the bill is that it obliges the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to use Huduma Namba as the basis for drawing up the national voter register, meaning any Kenyan without the ID could be excluded from the voting process. The Kenya Revenue Authority is also expected to use the biometric system as its primary source for identifying taxpayers in order to fight tax fraud, and hence widen the country’s tax base.
Read further: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202201/kenya-pushes-on-with-huduma-namba-as-compulsory-digital-id-amid-controversy