Govt Starts Maisha Namba Rollout, Targets First Time ID Applicants
This is in line with the pilot scheme to roll out digital registration of persons across the country.
Marvin Chege 
The Ministry of Interior has commenced the much-anticipated rolling out of the Maisha Namba, with priority given to first-time ID applicants.
Speaking after hosting members of the Civil Society to a briefing session on digital ID on Wednesday, November 1, Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof. Julius Bitok revealed that the first-time applicants will be issued with Maisha Cards from today.
This is in line with the pilot scheme to roll out digital registration of persons across the country.
Image of a sample Maisha Namba card. /VELLUM KENYA
“All Kenyans turning 18 years in whichever part of Kenya will be issued with a Maisha Card on a pilot basis. This way, we will establish whether there are any errors or issues before we do the penultimate launch,” Bitok stated.
The PS disclosed that 10,000 individuals apply for a new identification card every day while 5,000 apply for duplicates.
While noting that the government expects to obtain useful feedback on what it will take to successfully roll out the mass replacement of the current IDs, Bitok underscored that the pilot phase will help guide the government in terms of preparing the country for the adoption of the digital IDs.
He added that the State was committing to avoiding the challenges that culminated in the failure of the Huduma Namba project spearheaded by former President Uhuru Kenyatta's government.
Civil Society representatives led by Amnesty International (Kenya) Executive Director Irungu Houghton pledged to support public participation and stakeholder forums on digital IDs.
The representatives, who presented a memorandum of concerns on digital ID to the PS, urged the government to ensure apprehensions around data security and protection and genuine public participation and inclusion of marginalised communities were addressed.
“Whereas we are happy with the open-door policy that the government has adopted in engaging stakeholders on digital ID, there are areas around data privacy, inclusion of all voices and unfair vetting that needs to be addressed,” Houghton said.
On Monday, August 14, the government named the Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) Maisha Namba during the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Kenyan government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Maisha Namba is the official name given to the proposed UPI which will be a key part of the new digital identity proposed by the government.
During the rollout, all Kenyans will be assigned a Maisha Namba which will be a unique personal identifier. The new system will thus see all Kenyans assigned Unique Personal Identification (UPI) numbers at birth.
The UPI will be uploaded in the eCitizen portal and will give all newborns a unique number to be used in schools and colleges as well as be used by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as a means of identifying all Kenyans.
On Monday, October 30, President William Ruto announced that the new digital IDs, dubbed Maisha Digital Cards should be ready for launch by December 2023.
