This archive report was first published on 14 October 2021.
On October 14, 2021, the High Court delivered a ruling that the ongoing Huduma Namba rollout is illegal. In the ruling, Justice Jairus Ngaah stated that the government should have conducted an impact assessment before rolling out the Huduma Cards.
Law scholar Yash Pal Ghai and the Katiba Institute had challenged the rollout of the cards in November 2020, citing concerns over the lack of guarantees against theft or misuse of Kenyans' personal information.
Although the court ruled that the rollout is illegal, Justice Ngaah ordered the government to create safeguards to protect Kenyans' data, effectively allowing the government to make adjustments without recalling the whole rollout process.
The Huduma Namba process has so far consumed Sh. 10.6 billion, with the government having started issuing the cards in early December 2020. The current National Identification Cards are set to cease being valid in December of this year.
