ICT CS, Joe Mucheru, is breathing fire on Citizen TV for airing a report, in which he was featured, about a secondary school student who claimed that the government stole the Huduma Namba concept from her.
The student, Mercy Kimani, claimed that she showcased the project, Mwananchi Card, to the government in 2018, and it closely resembled the Huduma Namba project rolled out in 2019.
Her innovation consolidated one's personal information, education background, bank detail as well as criminal record, similar to the Huduma Namba Card.
Mashirima Kapombe spoke with the CS who explained how the government accepts innovations from Kenyans through a platform dubbed Whitebox.
After the news item aired, Mucheru took to Twitter to bash the station and accused the journalists of dishonesty.
"How can we steal from our children? Citizen TV is [sic] plainly dishonest. They should have asked me this question directly. Shame," part of his statement read.
He added that the plan to consolidate citizens' information was in place even before his appointment.
"The DP was quoted in April 2014 in the Daily Nation describing the ID," he explained.
“In order to address the prevailing security challenges, we intend to consolidate all current registers of persons into a single national register with accurate and relevant information,” Ruto has stated.
“This is your know-your-citizen campaign that will help us develop a reliable master database that will help us in national planning and security,” Interior CS Fred Matiang'i also added.
An ICT Ministry insider explained to Kenyans.co.ke that the Whitebox platform has four simple steps to follow when submitting an idea.
First, one needs to create an account on www.whitebox.go.ke and submit details of their product or innovation.
In the second step, the submission will be evaluated to determine its viability and the support required to actualise it.
Upon reaching the third stage, the product will be recommended for government use or for technical assistance through the government’s incubation partners.
The final step will involve working with the Whitebox team on the rollout of the approved product which will be guided by government procurement laws.
