milimani law courts
The High Court on Tuesday suspended the issuance of the new generation Identity Cards following a petition filed by Katiba Institute.
Justice John Chigiti ordered the government to halt the registration of persons or issuance of new generation IDs until the case is heard and determined.
Katiba had moved to the High Court to stop the government from rolling out the new IDs before conducting a data protection impact assessment per section 31 of the Data Protection Act.
“Mandamus compelling the Respondents to conduct a data protection impact assessment per section 31 of the Data Protection Act before piloting or rolling out the Maisha Namba, including the digital card, digital ID, unique personal identifier, and National Master Population Register”, Katiba told the court.
The institute also sought a declaration that the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 and Birth and Deaths (Amendment) Regulations, 2023, were adopted.
Katiba argued that Section 31 of the Data Protection Act requires the Respondents to conduct a data protection impact assessment if data processing is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of a data subject by its nature, scope, context, and purposes.
The new IDs were scheduled to be launched by President William Ruto this December.
According to the government, the Maisha will function as unique personal identity numbers provided to Kenyan individuals upon registration, typically at birth. This number will act as their personal identity number from birth until death.
Maisha Namba will also function as a birth certificate number for babies, allowing them to register in educational institutions, NHIF, and eventually convert to an ID number once they reach the age of 18.
It will also function as their Personal Identification Number (PIN) for future access to government services including KRA, NSSF, NHIF, and NEMIS.
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