The key ruling in petition seeking to suspend roll out of the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) commonly known as ‘Huduma Namba’ has finally come out Monday.
The digital listing programme will be launched in Machakos County at Masii Boys High School on Tuesday by President Uhuru Kenyatta but the government has been barred from forcing Kenyans to register.
On Monday, the High Court has also barred the government from using the data to withhold any services or bar anyone from accessing public facilities.
In addition, the government cannot also share the collected information with international bodies.
Justices Weldon Korir, Pauline Nyamweya and Mumbi Ngugi ruled that it is in the public interest to have such a system for collection of data but the platform should not infringe on the rights of citizens and foreigners in Kenya.
The suit was filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Nubian Rights Forum, and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) was heard on Friday.
According to the three bodies, the condition that no one will access government services without a Huduma Namba is a violation of fundamental rights protected under the bill of rights.
They argued that public services should not be pegged to documentation and that communities like the Kenyan Somali and Nubian risk further marginalization.