Huduma: How not to roll-out a state drive

Stirred into action by a Presidential Executive Order, the Interior Ministry just touched another live-wire among most Kenyans. The piloting of the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) may have unintentionally stirred the best national debate on digitising personal information and the right to privacy.

Kenyans, immigrants and refugees would be required to register their DNA, GPS home details, eye biometric information and shape of their ears before being issued critical identification documents. Consolidating this information with our driving licences, passports, KRA PIN, NHIF and NSSF cards then generates the unique identification Huduma Namba.