The High Court has halted the rollout of the Maisha number, barely a month after the government kicked off the pilot phase of the identification program.
Justice John Chigiti delivered the ruling after Katiba Institute filed a petition challenging the Unique Personal Identifier program.
Following the verdict, the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, which is headed by Cabinet secretary, Kithure Kindiki, was sent back to the drawing board, throwing the future of the digital ID number in limbo.
Katiba Institute argued that the state had no legal basis for implementing the Maisha Namba.
In addition, Katiba Institute noted that the government proceeded without requiring a state protection impact assessment, in violation of Section 31 of the Data Protection Act and the court ruling.
“Upon perusing the Application alongside the annexures therein, I find that the Application is not frivolous nor vexatious.
It raises an arguable case that should be heard and determined on merit within the Fair Administrative Action Act framework,” the judgement read in part.
The Court ruled that the petitioner raised weighty matters that needed hearing and determination.
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Identification Number
During the court proceedings, Katiba Institute noted the respondents had launched the project without involving the public or publishing critical information about the rollout.
“They have used hastily developed regulations, adopted in violation of the Statutory Instruments Act, to contravene their Constitutional and statutory obligations,” the court papers mentioned.
“For a second time, the respondents have ignored this Court’s rulings and have violated section 31 of the Data Protection Act. They remain intent on building the Maisha Namba on the shaky foundation of data illegally collected and processed during the Huduma Namba exercise,” court papers on the hearing further denoted.
Additionally, Katiba Insitute’s lawyer, Dudley Ochiel pointed out that the government was using data that had been illegally collected and processed during the outlawed Huduma Namba exercise.
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The Maisha Number exercise has been shadowed with controversy since its release after reports revealed that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation would act as an adviser for the program.
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“Our role is always as an adviser. We can connect the government to key technical experts and partners, but we’re very encouraged by what we see and by the President’s commitment.
We have a number of specific investment support on digital identity. We actually provide it to broader platforms,” Mark Suzman, CEO at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation noted.
Nevertheless, the Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said during its kickoff on November 1 that the pilot phase will target first time ID applicants who are turning 18 years.
