Kenyans Question Huduma Namba's Link to US Company Mastercard

A section of Kenyans, including lawyers, have raised questions on the motive behind the newly launched Huduma Namba registration exercise.

They are raising questions why the government is withholding information about the Huduma Card including the alleged link to the American financial services company, Mastercard.

“Our Government needs to be fully transparent on Huduma Namba. Is it related to previous Huduma Card run by Mastercard? Where will all individual information under Huduma Namba be domiciled? By MasterCard, a foreign company? How safe is the info from Criminal & Terrorist Hackers?” city lawyer Donald Kipkorir poses.

He also wants the government to disclose who owns the application and how it addresses the right to privacy as provided in the Constitution.

Another lawyer, Waikwa Wanyoike, accuses the government of hiring a company in secret and failing to provide information on how the data collected will be used or what it will be used for.

“There is no law to restrain rogue government officer if they decide to use our personal data for illegal purpose. There is simply no data law to protect the data, period!” he explains.

The Litigation officer at the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSF) also questions why Kenyans are being forced to line up all day to provide data that the government already holds.

“Why not transfer what GoK has to NIIMS? Why would Bunge pass a law with such serious consequences using a sneaky and illegal Miscellaneous Amendment process?” he poses.

Mugambi Laibuti, an advocate of the High Court, says NIIMS and Huduma Namba should be challenged in court.

“Does NIIMS/Huduma Namba guarantee the right to access to information?. How does NIIMS/Huduma Namba provide for access for persons with limited digital literacy ? what about access for persons with disabilities?” 

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has moved to court to stop the fresh registration exercise.

In its petition, the lobby group claims that the law used by the government to register Kenyans afresh only empowers the State to collect data, including DNA but does not guarantee the safety of the information.

Lecturer Wandia Njoya has questioned why MasterCard, a foreign company, is being allowed to access to Kenyans’ biodata.

She says the global payments company should market their card to customers and not "capture weak, corrupt African governments and enslave Kenyans with debt."

However, Mastercard has responded to her saying: “Huduma Card is a multi-purpose prepaid card. Which can be obtained at the following banks: CBA, DTB, EQUITY, and KCB. It enables you to make and receive social payments safely, conveniently and without cash in the store, online, by phone anywhere Mastercard’s accepted worldwide.”

The information government is seeking from Kenyans already exists in birth certificates, IDs, passports and even voters' register.

The government insists that those who will not register for Huduma Namba will be denied services.

“…otherwise you will not be able to access any Government service,” the Immigration Department says in a tweet.

Economist David Ndii has dismissed the Immigration Department saying: “There is no such thing as government services. They are public services and constitutional entitlements with or without Huduma Namba. We pay you to provide them. This colonial/dictatorship mentality is unacceptable.”