High Court declares Huduma Namba roll out Illegal

The High Court has quashed a decision by the government to roll out the Huduma Namba cards, ruling that it is illegal.

Justice Jairus Ngaah on Thursday, October 14 said the government faulted by not conducting a data protection impact assessment before launching the process.

Justice Ngaa therefore declared Huduma Namba roll out to be illegal.

President Uhuru Kenyatta registering for Huduma Namba President Uhuru Kenyatta registering for Huduma Namba Pulse Live Kenya

“An order is hereby issued to bring into this honourable court to quash the government decision of November 18 2020 to roll out Huduma cards for being ultra vires of the data protection act 2019,” the court ruled.

“Order of mandamus is hereby issued compelling the government to conduct a data protection impact assessment in accordance with section 31 of the Data Protection Act before processing of data and rolling out the Huduma cards,” the judge added.

The government has been planning to faceout the identity cards in favour of Huduma Namba by 2021.

As of September 2021, at least 9 million Huduma Namba cards had been processed and dispatched across the country.

In 2020 the courts also allowed the government to proceed with Huduma Namba’s implementation on condition that there is an appropriate and comprehensive regulatory framework that is compliant with the Constitution.