Huduma Namba registration to proceed despite House fiat

Huduma Namba registration assistants Lilian Nowell (right) and Nicholas Moru (centre) assist Diana Lomungura (left) to be enlisted in Barbello village in Tiaty, Baringo County on April 7, 2019. Ministry of ICT has said registration to continue despite Parliament decision to blacklist IDEMIA from operating in Kenya. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Hours after Parliament recommended the blacklisting of the company involved in the Huduma Namba registration, the government has said the listing will proceed.

The House yesterday voted to bar Idemia (formerly IT Morpho) from conducting business in the country for its alleged role in procurement malpractices in the last General Election.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joseph Mucheru said the core registration software and associated infrastructure was engineered and integrated by local software engineers.

“The 35,000 MorphoTablet 2 data capture kits were the only hardware component supplied by Idemia,” he said.

He added, “The kits were acquired on an outright purchase basis, and as such there is no existing contract beyond this.”

Mucheru said 15 million people have been registered so far and urged Kenyans to continue registering ahead of the May 17 deadline.

Blocking Idemia.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a report, recommended sanction against Idemia for flouting procurement rules.

PAC said the company was not registered in the country and did not have a local partner as required by law.

In the last election, the company won tenders worth more than Sh6 billion awarded by IEBC.

The amendment sanctioning the company reads: "Pursuant to provisions of Section 41 of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2015, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority investigates within 60 days the conduct of Idemia Securities Ltd and if it finds the company culpable, enters the name of the company in the central repository of debarred firms and ensures that the firm is precluded from participating or entering into any kind of procurement contract.”