President William Ruto's administration flew a team to Pakistan to help roll out the new national digital identity project.
The trip came three months after Information, Communication and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo revealed that the Government had abandoned the Huduma Namba project, launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, but intended to implement several aspects from the document in its latest rollout.
In the latest trip, several delegates, including individuals drawn from the Department of Registration of Persons, visited National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) headquarters based in Pakistan on Monday, May 15.
Nadra Chairman Tariq Malik told the press that the authority was ready to continue working with the Kenyan Government after holding a series of meetings with the delegation.
The delegates flew to the Asian country to benchmark and evaluate Nadra, which already proposed to the Ruto-led government to roll out the project.
During the meeting, Tariq told the delegates that the digital ID would champion inclusivity, unite government services, and lead governance reforms in state offices.
Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, secretaries, directors, and officials from the ID Department were part of Kenya's delegation to Pakistan.
On the other hand, Bitok noted that the state looked forward to working with Nadra and understanding the identity management system.
“Kenya has different disparate, in-silo environment databases and there is a need to link all the databases with a central repository making it one single version of truth. We are looking forward to working closely with Nadra on the future project related to National Digital Identity," he stated.
Abandoning Huduma Namba
In February, Owalo noted that his ministry could no longer be burdened with the program's implementation.
He argued that the Ministry sought to streamline services digitally without requiring Kenyans to flash out a physical document to prove their nationality.
“We do not want to carry forward the baggage of Huduma Namba. Instead, we will hasten the process of creating a new digital identity.
“We no longer need the members of the public to visit government offices and flash out a card as means of identification. We need a virtual means of identifying members of the public so that the government can know whom it is conducting business with,” explained Owalo.
Earlier, Ruto maintained that Huduma Namba had yet to address all privacy concerns.
