Kenyans will start receiving short messages from the government directing them where to pick their Huduma Namba cards.
The Interior Ministry on Wednesday said that the government has started mass printing of the cards.
“If you registered, you will soon receive an SMS notification prompting you when and where to collect yours,” the Fred Matiang’i led ministry announced.
The new Huduma Namba card will come into effect on December 12, 2021. The national identity cards will be phased out.
In October, the Registrar of Persons published The National Integrated Identity Management System Rules, 2020 for the issuance of Huduma Namba identification cards.
Those eligible include Kenyans, foreigners and refugees.
It will be mandatory for any Kenyan of age 18 and above to have a Huduma Namba card while children aged six years will be issued with a minor’s Huduma Namba.
Once this process of issuance is over, the government will use the information collected to dispense services to those who are eligible.
Those who will miss out will have hard times seeking government services as well as some basic services such as sim card registration or passport application.
So far, 38 million Kenyans were registered in 2019. A second registration drive has been announced to ensure that all Kenyans are registered before 2021 when the issuance of the Huduma Namba IDs will start.
The Huduma Namba is expected to better service delivery whilst also taming corruption in different government offices where a bribe was solicited to get basic services.
The card captures data National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as well as the National ID number.
Huduma Namba will play an important role in the Immigration Department since all information for an individual is in one platform.
