State beats hasty retreat after Huduma Namba discard threat

Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Security Dr Fred Matiang'i with Kisumu governor Anyang' Nyongo during the launch of Huduma Namba at Jomo Kenyatta Sports ground Kisumu on April 12, 2019. [Collins Oduor/Standard]

Government is after all not planning to switch off sim cards for Kenyans who fail to register for Huduma number.

Through the ministry of Information, it said, “We wish to reiterate that Huduma Namba Registration is a voluntary exercise in compliance with the recent High Court ruling. There is absolutely no directive from the Government to institute any punitive measures against those who don’t register.”

State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita had also tweeted clarifying that huduma number registration was purely a voluntary service.

For the avoidance of doubt Huduma Number Registration is a voluntary excercise in compliance with the ruling of the Courts.There is no directive from the Government to institute any punitive measures against those who don’t register.More emphasis will be laid on civic education! — Nzioka Waita (@NziokaWaita) April 18, 2019

Earlier today, Communications Authority Director General Francis Wangusi put Kenyans on notice over the importance of the National Integrated Management Systems (NIIMS), saying there will be dire consequences if they don't register.

Among the punitive measures would be the inability to use one's mobile phones, access to MPesa  Service, Airtel Money, and ATM withdrawals.

Netizens reacted angrily to this statement wondering why a State Institution would disobey a court order directly.

So you’re saying the government is so efficient that it can cross reference the identity of everyone who hasn’t registered with SIM registry details and then cut off those numbers? If they could do that why would they need the huduma namba in the first place?

— Mato???? (@upscaleshack) April 18, 2019

We dare GoK to switch off anyone's simcard or deny them any services for failing to register for Huduma Namba.We shall proceed to court. Public services are inherent and irrevocable RIGHTS that MUST be respected under the CoK 2010. #ResistHudumaNamba — #PunguzaMizigoBill2019 (@EAukot) April 18, 2019

According to the ICT Ministry, more than 10 million Kenyans have so far registered on the Huduma Namba bio-database.