William Ruto Suffers Another Blow As Court Suspends Issuance Of New Digital IDs

• High Court judge Justice John Chigiti suspended President William Ruto's plan to implement new digital IDs
• The high court ordered that the government should neither register people nor issue them new generation IDs
• The petition, Katiba Institute, argued that the decision to roll out the Maisha card would violate privacy rights and deny some citizens access to government services

Nancy Odindo, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics, news, and feature stories across digital and print media in Kenya.

President William Ruto has faced another setback as the High Court temporarily halts the issuance of digital IDs, known as Maisha cards, until February 6, 2024.

According to K24, Justice John Chigiti ordered the government not to register people or issue new-generation IDs after a petition filed by the Katiba Institute was found to be of importance.

"The leave shall operate as a stay, restraining implementation or further implementation by any person of the respondent's November 1, 2023 decision to roll out or pilot the Maisha Namba, including the digital card, digital ID, unique personal identifier, and a National Master Population Register, before and without a data protection impact assessment per Section 31 of the Data Protection Act," Justice Chigiti ordered.

Why was Katiba Institute against Maisha Cards?

In the petition, Katiba Institute argued that Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and Attorney General Justin Muturi's decision to roll out the Maisha card would violate the right to privacy and the right to public participation of millions of Kenyans in a way that unfairly ignores minority and marginalised communities from obtaining identification documentation and accessing government services.

Justice Chigiti added:

"Upon perusing the application alongside the annexures therein, I find that the application is not frivolous or vexatious. It raises an arguable case that should be heard and determined on merit within the Fair Administrative Action Act framework.

"Having been satisfied as such and in the exercise of my discretion under Order 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules, I hereby direct that leave is hereby granted in terms of prayer 2, and leave shall also operate as a stay in terms of prayer 3 of the said application."

Considering the urgency of the case, Justice Chigiti ordered that the respondents be served with the pleading within 7 days.

Had the implementation process progressed?

In July, the president directed the Interior Ministry and ICT to work on the IDs in 90 days.

In September of this year, Principal Secretary of the State Department for Citizen Services Julius Bitok confirmed that the Unique Personal Identifiers (UPI) were in the final stages of implementation.

"Today is the 70th day, and we have gathered here to review the progress of the work done by the team since the directive was issued. The new identity will give Kenyans the option of having ID on their mobile phone without carrying a physical card," said Bitok.

Kenyans to transact using iris or fingerprints

In a separate event, Ruto stated that the IDs, which were already in the testing phase, would allow Kenyans to transact through their iris or fingerprints.

"The digital ID, which has been a big problem for us, is now in a testing mode for the next two months. I am assured by all the stakeholders, led by the ministries concerned, that by December, we will be able to launch a digital ID where Kenyans don't have to carry any paper, plastic, or otherwise as an ID; they should be able to be identified digitally using their iris or fingerprints, and we can transact without the necessity of people struggling to identify who they are," he asserted.

He disclosed that his administration would digitise about 5,000 government services to allow local and diaspora citizens to access them easily.

"At the moment, we have only 300 services available online, but in the next 6 months, we will have onboarded 5000 government services online and available on all digital platforms so that even when you are anywhere in the world, you can still access government services, and we have put in place all mechanisms to make sure that happens," he said.