The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has addressed the use of Huduma Namba during the 2022 General Election.
Speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Monday, October 4, IEBC Commissioner Abdi Guliye, ruled out the use of Huduma Namba in the mass voter registration exercise.
Justifying the electoral agency's decision, Guliye noted that the law as it stands now, does not permit the use of Huduma Namba in electoral process.
He insisted that as per now, IEBC will only allow National Identity Card or a valid passport.
"We are not using Huduma Namba to register Kenyans. The documents required are defined in law. The national identity card and a recent or valid passport," Guliye remarked.
This contradicts what ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru had stated earlier on.
Speaking on the same day but in the earlier hours, Mucheru maintained that IEBC should allow Kenyans to vote using their Huduma Namba.
He argued that the data captured on Huduma Namba is not different from that captured in the National Identification Cards therefore it should be put into use.
"We have put a lot of system in place. We should allow people to vote with their ID which is their Huduma Namba Card. We are already registered biometrically. IEBC just needs to know where you are supposed to vote," Mucheru stated.
"We have got over 10 million people with Huduma cards. Over 37.8 million people were registered."
On the mass voter registration exercise, IEBC Chairman, Wafula Chebukati, said the commission is targeting to enlist at least 6 million new voters as the country prepares for the August 9, 2022 General Election.
“We urge all eligible Kenyans who have not registered as voters to turn up in large numbers and register,” Chebukati said.
Kenya currently has 19,687,885 as of May 2021, according to figures provided by the commission.
As part of preparations for the election, IEBC said it plans to undertake a nationwide mass voter registration for the diaspora.
The exercise is mainly targeted at South Sudan, USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the newly listed countries after meeting the minimum requirement of 3,000 voters.
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