IEBC criticises Huduma Namba link to voter registration
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has criticised the Huduma Namba Bill, 2021, claiming that the agency will not have enough time to implement the law before the August 9 General Election.
Through a memorandum outlining its position on the contentious Bill, the agency states that Kenyans must be given adequate time to obtain the Huduma Namba so that they are not disenfranchised for the August election, as well as political rights to vote and stand for election.
“The Bill creates confusion on when the use of national identity cards (IDs) or valid passport will be replaced with Huduma card as the only means of official identification,” the commission says in its memorandum which was presented to the committee on Justice and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly.
According to the commission, the law’s enactment will force it to change its standard operating procedures in voter registration, verification, register update and deduplication as well as its technology platforms such as Kiems and Candidates Registration Management System (CRMS).
It will then have to update the register of voters and various voter registration statutory forms by inserting a field for the Huduma number/Huduma card to replace the document used to register as a voter, or devise a method of incorporating the Huduma number in the electronic register (Kiems voter identification component) and the hardcopy register of voters.
The Bill, which was introduced in the National Assembly last December, seeks to consolidate the law on civil registration and legal identity management, establish a digital national population database to serve as the primary source of foundational data for a resident individual, and provide a mechanism for registering births, deaths, and recognizing vital events of a resident individual.
The laws consolidated in the Bill include the Births and Deaths Registration Act, the Registration of Persons Act, the Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service Act, 2011 (Service Act), the Marriage Act 2014, the Children Act, 2001, the Traffic Act; and the Tax Procedures Act 2015. Further, the Bill proposes amendments to the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011.
If passed, it will also make it easier to assign the Huduma Namba and issue legal identity documents as well as promote the integrity, confidentiality and security of personal data stored in the NIIMS database.
Huduma Namba is modelled after the Social Security number in the United States. The plan is for each citizen to receive a unique identifier number that will be required when requesting government services.
During the Huduma Namba rollout, PS Karanja Kibicho assured that the number would replace the numerous cards that they carry to identify themselves when seeking services.
However, the Bill does not include as many other forms of identification as had been promised.
“Considering that no definite timeline is given for terminating the use of IDs, there is likelihood of chaos and confusion among the electorate who have and continue to register as voters ahead of the 2022 general elections with their IDs and Passports,” the commission says.
The agency admits that because the Bill requires deaths to be reported to an NIIMS officer and provides penalties for non-reporting, NIIMS may facilitate faster and more reliable removal of dead voters from the register.
