Kenya: Nubian Rights Forum & 2 others v Attorney-General & 6 others, Consolidated Petitions 56, 58 & 59 of 2019
Published: 1/Apr/2019
Source: High Court of Kenya, Nairobi
Nubian Rights Forum & 2 others v Attorney-General & 6 others; Child Welfare Society & 8 others(Interested Parties); Centre For Intellectual Property & InformationTechnology (Proposed Amicus Curiae) [2019] eKLR
“4. A perusal of the Petitions reveals the following key areas of contention:
a. The exclusion and discrimination against the Nubian community whom it is argued do not have national identity cards and/or birth certificates hence are disadvantaged by the uneven playing field as far as implementation of the NIIMS system is concerned;
b. The impugned amendments were introduced and passed without public consultation and /or public participation;
c. There are no adequate and/ or proper safeguards for protection of the data and/or personal information intended for collection under the NIIMS system, hence there is a violation and/or threat of violation of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 31 of the Constitution;
d. The impugned amendments were published in an omnibus legislation and in a Gazette Notice that was crafted in such a manner as to conceal the amendments from the public. To wit, the impugned amendments were published alongside sixty seven other pieces of legislation, notwithstanding the substantive nature and seriousness of the impugned amendments.”
Interim court orders:
1. The inclusion of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) as one of the unique identifiers or attributes in the definition of “biometric” in section 3 of the Registration of Persons Act be and is hereby suspended, pending the hearing and determination of the consolidated Petitions herein. For the avoidance of doubt the remaining unique identifiers and attributes contained in the definition of “biometric” in section 3 and section 5 of the Registration of Persons Act shall continue to apply and be in operation.
2. The definition of “Global Positioning System co-ordinates” in section 3 of the Registration of Persons Act and the inclusion of “Global Positioning System co-ordinates” in section 5 (g) of the said Act be and are hereby suspended, pending the hearing and determination of the consolidated Petitions herein.
3. The Respondents shall be at liberty to proceed with the collection of personal information and data under the National Integrated Information Management System (NIIMS) pursuant to the operational provisions of the Registration of Persons Act. However, pending the hearing and determination of the Consolidated Petitions, the Respondents shall not:
a. Compel any member of the public to participate in the collection of personal information and data in NIIMS.
b. Set any time restrictions or deadlines as regards the collection of the said personal information and data in NIIMS.
c. Set the collection of personal information and data in NIIMS as a condition precedent for the provision of any Government or public services, or access to any government or public facilities.
d. Share or disseminate any of the personal information or data collected in NIIMS with any other national or international government or non-governmental agencies or any person.
Read judgment: http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/172447/