Huduma Namba rebels to be locked out of government services

by Adrian Opiyo · July 18, 2019

In the government launched the nationwide registration of Huduma Namba which was flagged off by Uhuru Kenyatta in Machakos. According to the government, the project is aimed at facilitating better government services to citizens as it is supposed to merge all numbers including NHIF, NSSF, KRA PIN, and others into one number. Other documents to be associated with Huduma Namba include the birth certificates, passports, driving licenses and national identification cards. One of the immediate benefits of Huduma Namba, the government said, is the removal of ghost workers from government payrolls both at national and county levels.

The move by the government angered many Civil Rights Activists led by activist Okiya Omtata who unsuccessfully filed a petition in court to stop the mass registration. He claimed that there was no public participation thus in violation of human rights enshrined in Article 34 of the constitution of Kenya. The court however ruled that the mass registration could go on, but no citizen was to be forced to take the Huduma Namba, arguing that the number should be option. Following the court ruling, the mass registration went on as planned and after a one week extension, some 36 million Kenyans registered for the number, leaving out more than 11 million who had attained the age of 6 out of the process. To punish those who did not register, the government is about to sign an Huduma Namba Bill into law.

If the bill becomes law, then Huduma Namba will act as an official proof for identification in the country; that is, without the Huduma number you will be locked out of accessing important government services. Critical services and processes such as registering as a voter, buying or selling property including cars, obtaining a passport, getting access to universal health care, possessing a driving license, filing for tax returns, and several others will be impossible unless one has huduma number. The best way out of the threats is therefore to get yourself your Huduma Namba. There have been talks already on the rollout of the second phase of mass registration for Huduma Namba, and probably it will be your best chance to get that damn number in as much as no one actually needs it to offer the said services.