After the ruling that the government should not make the Huduma Namba registration exercise mandatory the opposition chief Raila Odinga wished he could be on the bench to make his input.
This is what he had to say after the three-judge bench ruling.
“Mahakama inasema sio lazima, ikiwa kama kuna kitu inatakana kuwa lazima ni hii… ningekua jaji huko ningesema hii kitu lazima ingekua ni lazima,” said Mr. Odinga.(The High Court has said it (NIIMS) is not a must, if there is a process that needs to be mandatory, it’s this… if i was the judge I would have ruled the process to be compulsory.)
Orange Democratic Party Leader insisted that the ongoing Huduma Nambaregistration process is a must and Kenyans should not be barred from taking part in the exercise.
Mr. Odinga insisted that successful implementation of the ongoing National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) registration, which was officially launched on Tuesday, will be a benchmark for other countries to emulate.
Speaking at Shika Adabu area in Likoni, Mombasa County, the ODM leader further criticised human rights groups as well as other parties and individuals who are against the process and even challenged its roll-out in court.
The African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development said majority of those opposed don’t understand the whole process.
On Monday, a three-judge bench comprising of Justices Weldon Korir, Pauline Nyamweya and Mumbi Ngugi ruled that the government should not make the exercise mandatory or issue deadlines for the collection of NIIMS data.
At the same time, the political bigwig blasted politicians who want to clip the powers of the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
“Mbunge anaenda kuleta sheria yakupunguza uwezo ya wale ambao wamepewa jukumu ya kupambana na ufisadi, huyo mbunge akili yake ni timamu?” he posed. (A Member of Parliament wants to introduce a bill to clip the powers of those given the authority to investigate matters corruption, is he in the right frame of mind?)
Mr. Odinga was likely referring to Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro who presented a bill in Parliament seeking to temper the powers of the Ethics and Anti Corruption commission (EACC), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Office of the Public Prosecutor (DPP).