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Uhuru orders integrated 'Huduma Namba' ID for all Kenyans

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President Uhuru Kenyatta. FILE PHOTO | NMG

All Kenyans will be registered digitally and given unique numbers containing their personal data as the government fights to eradicate forgeries of national identification documents and crime.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said the numbers will be known as “Huduma Namba (Service Number)."

The Head of State said the registration will be done after completion of a central master population database, which will be “the authentic single source of truth on personal identity in Kenya”.

Speaking at State House Mombasa, during a meeting with police commanders, regional coordinators and county commissioners, President Kenyatta said the database will also contain information of all foreign nationals residing in the country.

“For each registration, the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIMS) will generate a unique identification number which will be known as the Huduma Namba,” he said.

The Head of State said this is to enhance the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS).

President Kenyatta said the county commissioners will provide oversight and coordinate the execution of the Huduma number related activities in their counties.

The computer system that was launched by Mr Kenyatta in 2015 will link up government agencies that hold personal information of individuals to enhance efficiency and security.

Crucial data

The Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) will store data of all Kenyans and visitors at the central location for easy electronic access by institutions, including private corporations that provide crucial and sensitive services.

At the touch of a button, it would produce one’s details stored at the various registries including births and deaths, marriages and divorce, as well as passport, aliens, ID cards and citizenship registers.

Such details will be linked and relayed in real time to other agencies like Lands registry, National Social Security Fund, law enforcement agencies, National Hospital Insurance Fund, Kenya Revenue Authority, financial agencies, immigrations, National Transport and Safety Authority, Independent Electoral and Electoral and Boundaries Commission and universities.

The system is also critical to keep the country safe and free from the activities of undesirable elements, said the president

The system, which is already in use by some agencies, was tested for a year before being launched four years ago.

By 2015, the system had a data of more than 16 million Kenyans and 200,000 refugees.

The information stored will be available to banks to prevent impersonation and fraud as well as the IEBC to prevent registration using documents of a dead person.

The system described as “the common reference and single source of truth” will also allow security agents trace individuals, know the country’s population and the government to be assured of the dead people whose IDs have been used in election malpractices.

Biometric cards

President Kenyatta’s Tuesday's announcement came a day after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i asked all civilian firearm holders to get biometric cards by March 19.

The move by the government aims at enhancing security across the country.

Dr Matiang’i on Monday said the biometric card which is fixed with a micro-chip will have all details of the firearm holders.

The CS said the move is aimed at dealing with surging crime cases involving use of these weapons and insisted that the government would not got not go back on the programme.