NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 5 – High Court has suspended the registration and issuance of new digital Identification Cards (ID).
In a ruling issued by justice John Chigiti, the government was directed =to halt the process that was to kick off this month.
”The leave granted by the court operates as a stay restraining implementation or further implementation by any person of the respondents’ 1 November 2023 decision to roll out or pilot Maisha namba including the digital card, digital ID, unique personal identifier, and a National Master Population Register before and without a data protection impact assessment per section 31 of the data protection Act,” read the judgment by justice Chamita in part.
Civil societies including Katiba Institute, Nubian Rights Forum, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Defenders Coalition, had moved to court seeking prayers to stop the process arguing that it had not gone through adequate public participation and data protection framework therefore undermining its legality.
The Maisha Namba championed by president William Ruto is meant to replace the moribund Huduma Samba rolled out under the tenure of retired president Uhuru Kenyatta.
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