The Milimani High Court has reversed a previous decision that had put a pause on the enforcement of the Unique Personal Identifier, known as Maisha Namba.
On Monday, the court indicated that halting the registration process in Kenya significantly and immediately harms a large segment of the population. “Having regard to the preceding reasons, I am persuaded that it is not in the public interest to maintain the interim conservatory orders,” the judgment stated.
The stoppage was initially in response to a legal challenge by the Haki na Sheria Initiative, which was directed against the national government along with the Attorney General, the Interior Cabinet Secretary, and key Registrars handling Births, Deaths, and Citizens’ information.
Summayah Mokku, representing Haki na Sheria, presented the argument that the rollout of Maisha Namba infringes upon constitutional rights and freedoms. “The Respondents have also contravened or threaten to contravene other provisions of the Constitution including Articles 10, 73, 94, 129 and 232 on transparency, right to public participation, right to access information among others,” the legal files indicated.
Furthermore, the documents highlighted, “The recent confirmations of the Respondents actualize the existing threats to these rights and fundamental freedoms in the issue including the potential irreversible risk of breach of mass personal data and permanent exclusion of select groups of the population in contravention of Article 31 and 27 of the Constitution respectively. The actions of the Respondents will also undoubtedly render the adjudication of the Petitions before this Honorable Court nugatory and the consequent court process an academic exercise.”
In giving his verdict, Judge Lawrence Mugambi of the Milimani High Court underscored that despite the outlined security risks from previous petitions, the respondents are persistently gathering, processing, and holding data. “There is a great risk of prejudice being caused to members of the public and their right to privacy by the disclosure of certain types of personal information in the absence of proposals on how that data will be protected,” he decreed.
Mugambi further weighed in that the Maisha Ecosystem could exacerbate the exclusion gap regarding citizenship in Kenya. He called for a temporary halt on further Maisha Namba activities until a comprehensive hearing and decision are reached.
“Pending the inter-parties hearing and determination of this Application, the Honourable Court be pleased to issue a conservatory order ex parte staying and halting the further and continued implementation of the Unique Personal Identifier (Maisha Namba), 3rd Generation National Identification Card (Maisha Card), Maisha Digital ID and Maisha Database,” the judgment read.
It also sought to prevent the collection, processing, or storage of data from Kenyans and foreign nationals in the country as related to the issuance of Maisha Namba.
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