Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has become Ruto’s headache and is now demanding the nullification of more government projects that he has described are illegal and unconstitutional.
This comes after the High Court halted various government projects that were implemented unconstitutionally. The latest being Maisha Namba Digital IDs that Okiya Omtatah is now demanding the associates to be stopped with it.
Government through Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok unveiled the digital identifications and a supporting system on September 28th. The supporting system included the Maisha Namba, Maisha Card, Digital ID, and National Master Population Register.
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The development of Digital Identity approval had four sub sections that builds the whole idea. The four components in the development include Maisha Namba (UPI), Maisha Card and Digital Signature, and Master National Population Register.
According to Omtatah, the National Master Population Register (NMPR) and the Maisha card (chip-bearing ID) were non-compliant with Kenya’s Data Protection Act. This means that the government should stop it or face the tune in court, a process that has not gone in the government’s favor due to most implementations being unconstitutional.
“The Implementation of the associated chip-bearing physical identity card, digital ID, unique personal Identifier (UPI), and National Master Population Register must all halt until the project is compliant with Kenya’s Data Protection Act.”
Bitok had earlier explained that the Maisha number will be a lifetime deal with a person’s detail throughout his/her life. Something the court found unconstitutional.
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“Maisha number will be given to newborn children and they will use it throughout their lifetime. It will be their ID number, KRA PIN, NSSF number, birth and death certificate number.”
However, the Okiya Omtatah move now puts more pressure to the government as he becomes Ruto’s headache in the courts where they have failed to convince the courts to uphold a single project of late with the courts halting most of them.
Omtatah also noted that the court’s intervention in halting the rollout of the Maisha number is a repeat of a verdict that ultimately nullified the digital ID scheme’s predecessor, Huduma Namba, launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.