Kenyans who will fail to register for the government’s Huduma Namba will not be given a passport according to a statement from the Immigration Department.
“If you are not in NIIMS and you are applying for a passport, we will know very well that you are not a Kenyan,” said the Immigration Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa.
The NIIMS registration, commonly known as Huduma Namba was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta to biometrically create, manage and store Kenya’s population data.
There have been concerns over the safety of data being collected and whether the government has what it takes in securing data from Kenyans.
Many Kenyans are also still confused as to what the Huduma Namba is for despite the government insisting that it is to enable service delivery to all Kenyans.
Kenya Hunan Rights Commission (KHRC) moved to court seeking the intervention of the court in stopping the exercise from proceeding. The court, in its ruling, allowed Huduma registration to proceed on condition that; no one will be forced to register and that no one will be denied government services for failing to register.
The government seems to be going against the court’s directive with President Uhuru Kenyatta directing the Ministry of Interior to make sure that all Kenyans are registered within the stipulated timeframe.
There are allegations of Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs using threats of arrest to force people in the villages to enroll for the Huduma Namba.
There are also allegations of some government employees being threatened with salary withholding if they will not have registered with the system.