Tana River County Commissioner has warned that area residents who will not have registered for Huduma Namba by the deadline day will all be considered foreigners and a threat to national security thus facing arrest.
In an interview with Nation, Oning'oi Ole'sosio stated that the number is a necessity when it comes to national security and efficient service delivery.
He went on to claim that those opposed to the registration exercise have a hidden agenda against government projects.
"Last year after the abduction of an Italian volunteer by militia, we arrested one of the key suspects connected to the subsequent murder. He had an ID but when we forwarded it to the National Registration Bureau, we were told the owner of the document was deceased," he added.
Ole’sosio further claimed that the county security team had discovered a cartel that routinely hired their IDs to foreigners thus aiding their criminal activities.
The county commissioner went on to allege that some of the residents even went as far as reporting their IDs lost in order to obtain an extra one for the hire out business.
These sentiments come at a time when Kenyans who have not registered for the Number expressing concern over the security of their details from any form of the data breach.
In the meantime, the government was forced to come out to clear the air over allegations that the database had been hacked and over 21 million files deleted.
"News circulating claiming to have hacked Huduma Namba utterly false. The exercise is going strong with 23.5 million secure registered persons," Interior Ministry spokesperson Wangui Muchiri noted.
Earlier in April, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i divulged that registration for Huduma Namba had surpassed the 20 million mark.
