The Kenyan government has published a set of rules for the issuance of Huduma Namba identification cards.
The National Integrated Identity Management System Rules, 2020 were published by the Registrar of Persons.
“The objects of these rules are to provide mechanisms for operation of the NIIMS (National Integrated Identity Management System) and facilitate the assigning of Huduma Namba and issuance of Huduma card to a resident individual,” the legal notice by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i read.
Those eligible – Kenyans, foreigners and refugees – will get their Huduma Namba cards within 30 days once the State assigns them a unique Huduma Namba.
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.
“Any government agency requiring personal particulars of an individual shall, at the first instance, rely on the NIIMS database to authenticate the foundational data of an enrolled resident individual,” the notice added.
“For the purpose of establishing proof of identity, the presentation of the Huduma card or the Huduma Namba authenticated by biometrics constitutes sufficient proof.”
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.
On Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta while speaking in Manyani, Taita Taveta during a Cabinet retreat assured Kenyans that Huduma Namba was meant to better government services.
Uhuru quelled fears among Kenyans following talk a section of Tanga Tanga leaders who recently said that it is a mechanism to rig polls in 2022.
Just like in developed nations, the Huduma Namba will have details of an individual stored in the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS).
