Huduma Namba Project Cost Uhuru Govt Ksh15 Billion- Ruto
To curb this, Ruto plans to roll out a digital identity (ID) to Kenyans in the next 90 days which will address the issues that Huduma Namba failed to address during its launch.
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President William Ruto on Friday, June 30 revisited the Huduma Namba project which stalled under former President Uhuru Kenyatta, lamenting that it cost the previous regime Ksh15 billion.
Speaking during the unveiling of digital government services at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Ruto termed the project as a fraud which brought little to the previous government.
To curb this, Ruto plans to roll out a digital identity (ID) to Kenyans in the next 90 days which will address the issues that Huduma Namba failed to address during its launch.
President William Ruto, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Interior CS, Kithure Kindiki during the launch of Gava Mkononi App on June 30, 2023. /PCS
“In the next 90 days, we must have a digital ID. That digital id has been traumatic for Kenya. We are all aware that there was another phantom project called huduma namba, that huduma namba was a complete fraud because we lost almost Ksh 15 billion and got very little out of it,” said Ruto.
Accordingly, Ruto urged government officials to show in three months that a digital ID project can work without wasting Ksh15 billion from public coffers, calling out those responsible for the failure of Huduma Namba.
“We must demonstrate in the next 90 days that it is possible for us to have a digital id without spending Ksh15 billion and without defrauding the people of Kenya. And those who did that should be ashamed of themselves," he went on.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, on Wednesday, May 24, gave more context on the upgrade of the National Identification Card (ID) system by incorporating more biometric features that include facial recognition.
According to the CS, the new advanced security features would supplement the fingerprint security feature which is contained in the current IDs.
"We have an ID system which is semi-automated part of it. Going forward we are looking at upgrading our current automated fingerprint identification System (AFIS) into an automated biometric identification system which goes beyond the fingerprint and involves the iris, fingerprints as well as facial recognition," Kindiki stated during the ID4Africa Conference at the Kenya College of Insurance, South C, Nairobi.
In what might be akin to the Huduma Namba project, the new generation IDs will have a machine-readable chip and Quick Response (QR) code and allow web-based authentication.
Besides upgrading the new features, Kindiki revealed that the newborns would be the first beneficiaries of the programme to digitise all government services.
The IDs will carry significance to all holders and would serve as a lifetime registration number.
"Going forward, we are moving towards an electronic ID with a machine-readable chip and QR code, and eventually, this should lead us to a digital ID system which will allow web-based ID authentication and, in the long run, transit all that into a unique personal identifier which we are going to give all newborns in Kenya, and it becomes the age of 18," Kindiki explained.
During the same event, the Principal Secretary of the Immigration Department, Julius Bitok, revealed that the government was targeting to launch the new IDs on September 16, 2023.
Ruto on Thursday, January 27 ordered ICT CS Eliud Owalo to oversee the creation of a digital identity (ID) similar to the Huduma Namba, by the end of this year.
President William Ruto poses for a photo during a past Huduma Namba registration exercise. /CITIZEN DIGITAL
