Kenya continues national rollout of security ID number

Najib Balala, the cabinet secretary of Kenya Tourism and Wildlife, on Monday led his ministry in undertaking a digital registration exercise.

The government has launched a national initiative where Kenyans and foreigners in the country, above the age of six years, are required to register their personal data in what is known as the National Integrated Identity Management System or NIIMS. The system is a mass biometric registration system that will create, manage and store population data.

Once these details are captured, together with facial information and fingerprints, a unique number known as Huduma Namba is generated. It is expected to enhance public service delivery to the population.

Balala kicked off the exercise at the Kenya Wildlife Services Headquarters in Nairobi where he was the first to go through the registration process. Brigadier (Rtd) John Waweru, the director general of KWS, was among other heads of government agencies under the ministry who participated in the registration exercise.

A team of registration clerks from the ministry of information and communication or ICT, under the supervision of the principal ICT officer, Maryann Wamboi, assisted the participants to register their details in the NIIMS.

The minister revealed that at least 20 million Kenyans have already registered and urged all workers in the sector to undertake the process. There are at least 6,000 government workers in the ministry of tourism and wildlife.

The deadline for the registration process is May 18.