CS BALALA LEADS STAKEHOLDERS IN HUDUMA NUMBER REGISTRATION

Release Date: 
Monday, April 29, 2019 - 21:45

Cabinet Secretary for Tourism & Wildlife, Hon. Najib Balala, today led staff from his ministry and tourism and wildlife stakeholders in registering for the Huduma Namba, at KWS headquarters, Nairobi.

Hon Balala allayed public fears on the system, saying the two-day registration was neither satanic nor did it require one’s blood group, blood status or DNA as claimed by critics.

“The government is open and willing to come where you are for registration,” the CS said, asking his two principal secretaries for state departments of Tourism (Mr Joe Okudo) and Wildlife (Dr Susan Koech) to provide him with weekly updates on the exercise and ensure all staff in the ministry and nine state corporations as well as Wildlife Clubs of Kenya are registered by the end of the deadline.

Among the first to register for the Huduma Namba after the CS were Chief Administrative Secretary Ministry of Tourism & Wildlife Mr. Joseph Boinett, the two Principal Secretaries and board members from state corporations and their CEOs.

The exercise targeting hoteliers, tour operators, NGOs and other stakeholders, was conducted by a team of 23 registration clerks from Langata Sub-county under the supervision of Principal ICT officer (Huduma Namba Secretariat) MaryAnn Wambui from the Ministry of ICT and the Langata Deputy County Commissioner, Mr Maina Ngunyi. 

Mr Ngunyi clarified that some time will be required to verify details entered into the system before the actual Huduma Card number is issued.

NIIMS project, which was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on April 3 in Machakos and ends on May 17, seeks to identify all Kenyan residents and registered foreigners through a unique primary identifier using biometric (fingerprints and facials only), demographic and physical details in an exercise that also aims at enhancing national security.

Speaking at the event Mr  Boinett urged staff to register for Huduma Namba alongside their friends and relatives  

“NIIMS will not only transform civil registration and data management in the country but also tame corruption and fast-track the implementation of other governments services and above all we are running ahead to embrace the cutting-edge technology apparently witnessed in our day to day working environment,” Boinett noted.

The CS encouraged everyone to register before the deadline: ‘‘The new Huduma Namba will not invalidate but instead consolidate other national registration processes like the signing up for Identity Cards, National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Birth certificates or the KRA Personal Identification Number (PIN) among others.”  

Huduma Namba, which is also aimed at enhancing the speed and efficiency of service delivery to all residents of Kenya, will consolidate the other registration numbers in one digital wallet. The other numbers will become secondary identifiers.

The exercise was conducted the whole day and will continue tomorrow Tuesday, (April 30, 2019).