This archive report was first published on 29 September 2019.
Published on September 29, 2019, a case is underway in court over Kenya's failed Huduma Number project, which aimed to centralize citizen data and lost Ksh6 billion ($60 million).
The project, which was launched with much fanfare, was meant to provide a unique identification number to every Kenyan citizen. However, the system was plagued by security concerns, with many experts warning that centralizing citizen data would make it vulnerable to hacking and security breaches.
Despite these concerns, the government pushed forward with the project, threatening citizens who refused to register for the Huduma Number with denial of government services. The threats were issued by Cabinet secretaries, who claimed that citizens would not be able to access health services, passport renewals, and other government services without the Huduma Number.
However, the project was eventually abandoned, and the Ksh6 billion ($60 million) allocated to it was lost. Today, the government is facing a new challenge in the form of a sponsored Bill that seeks to regulate social media groups and require their administrators to obtain licenses from the Communications Authority of Kenya.
The Bill, which has sparked widespread criticism, would require social media group administrators to pay a fee to obtain a license and would give the government the power to control what content is deemed undesirable. Critics argue that the Bill would gag people from speaking freely and would create a country that lives in fear.
Nerima Wako-Ojiwa, executive director of Siasa Place, argues that the Bill would have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and would make it difficult for people to express themselves freely online.
