Hundreds of Kenyans are rushing to beat the Saturday 18 May deadline for the mass registration of the National Intergrated Identity Management System commonly referred to as Huduma Namba.
In the typical Kenyan habit, hundreds of citizens have turned up for the exercise in the last minute ahead of the lapse of the 45 days registration period.
A spot check revealed long queues as thousands of unregistered citizens sought the much publicized Huduma Namba that will enable them easy access to government services.
Despite the long queues witnessed across the country, most Kenyans remain skeptical about the importance of the exercise with a majority of them citing the fear of missing out on key Government services as the driving force behind the decision to register for huduma namba.
For one to be registered, the government will require at least an identification document; this can either be a birth certificate, ID card, driving licence or the Kenya Revenue Authority PIN.
A person registering will be required to provide a digital picture, give his name, gender, date of birth, age, citizenship, information about parents or guardians, place of birth, phone number, email address, physical and permanent residence and marital status.
On Monday, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said already, 31 million Kenyans had been registered for the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) adding that the registration period will not be extended.
However, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) faulted the Interior CS for overlooking a court order that prohibited setting of deadlines for the registration of Huduma Namba.
The High Court ruling on April 1 had rendered Huduma Namba registration non-mandatory with Justices Weldon Korir, Pauline Nyamweya and Mumbi Ngugi ruling that the government should not withhold services from persons who may not be registered.
