This is Why Senators have expressed fears in safety of ‘Huduma Namba’

A clash is looming between the government and senators over the implementation of the contentious National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) after Cabinet secretaries failed to demonstrate that the system is hack-proof.

NIIMS is projected by the State to create, manage, maintain and operate a national population register as a single source of personal information of Kenyans and foreigners.

While the State maintains that the anticipated digital platform will be tamper proof, the senators want the government to terminate the multi-billion-shilling project to allow proper consultations and public participation.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has moved to court to stop the implementation of the new law arguing that there already exists a parallel mechanism called the Integrated Population Registration System.

But a sitting held yesterday to iron out sticky issues riddling the contested registration law requiring Kenyans to give personal information for digital registration, senators demanded that the State comes clean on the Miscellaneous Amendments Act 2018, which made changes to the Registration of Persons Act.

The amendments that led to the formation of NIIMS were made on November 29, 2018, during the passage of the controversial Finance Bill and assented to by Uhuru in December last year.

Appearing before the Senate joint committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign relations and ICT Cabinet secretaries Fred Matiang’i (Interior), Joe Mucheru (ICT) and Attorney General Kihara Kariuki maintained that NIIMS is  tamper-proof.

“By a click of a button, NIIMS should generate a unique identification number dubbed ‘Huduma Namba’ for each person registered,” Matiang’i told senators yesterday revealing that the programme has already been piloted in 15 counties.

However, according to a source in the meeting, lawmakers claimed that the legislation of NIIMS does not provide for a shift mechanism from the present regime and exposes Kenyans to vulgarism.

Trouble is said to have started after the arrival of Matiang’i, Mucheru and Kihara, when chairperson Yusuf Haji (Garissa) declared the media who had attended to cover the session as “uninvited guests”. He directed parliamentary  orderlies to kick them out.

This sparked a row between the chair and the other senators led by Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Samson Cherargei (Nandi) and Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi).

 Kilonzo Jnr said despite attempts by Haji to restrict lawmakers from asking questions, the members wanted to know from Matiang’i and Mucheru how the government would protect the data from being accessed by  criminals.