A section of Civil Society Organizations have raised concerns over the expiry of new digital identification cards rolled out by the government.
The organisations in a press conference on Sunday expressed concerns over the ramifications of rolling out the digital ID cards ahead of the next general elections.
“What has been christened as Maisha number has an expiry date. IDs are critical in matters to do with voting. We want an explanation. It raises a lot of suspicion and one can see it is a scheme to rig elections in 2027,” the CSOs expressed during the press conference.
The groups claimed that the new IDs are set to expire in 2032 and proceeded to point out this will be around the same time President William Ruto's term will come to an end if he wins in 2027.
To establish whether the digital IDs bear an expiry date as claimed by the civil society organisations, Kenyans.co.ke reached out to one young adult who has been issued with the identification document recently.
The young adult confirmed that the ID will expire in 2034 having acquired the document in May 2024.
Speaking to this publication, the young Kenyan who recently acquired the new digital ID card known as the Maisha Card stated that the functional identification number displayed in front of the document cannot be used for formal purposes such as completing bank transactions, the way the traditional ID card has been applied until now.
Instead, Maisha Card holders are required to go to any Huduma Center or Nyayo House and submit their cards, after which they are assigned a functional identification number.
The government had on February 23, announced the forthcoming rollout of Maisha Cards to replace the traditional IDs that had no expiry date.
At the time, the State clarified that Maisha Card which would bear Maisha Namba that would uniquely identify all Kenyans.
The card is designed to serve as a unique personal identification number and will be assigned to Kenyan citizens upon registration, typically at birth.
Attacks on Journalists
At the same press conference, the civil society groups also urged the government to stop the targeted attacks on media practitioners witnessed in recent days.
“As a show of good will, Ruto should ensure those who have been abducted are released, and those facing charges have those charges dropped."
