The recent agreement between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Kenyan government for a lifetime digital identification system has faced opposition from the public and hit a roadblock due to a court ruling.
According to The HighWire, Bill Gates held closed-door meetings with Kenyan President William Ruto and other government officials before the agreement was announced.
The ID system, called Maisha Namba, was described by Ruto as a system meant to enhance service delivery to citizens, as reported by Kenyans.co.ke. The principal secretary of immigration and citizen services, Julius Bitok, also stated that the current ID system is outdated and in need of replacement.
Bitok further emphasized the importance of digitizing registration services to address challenges related to identifying and authenticating Kenyan citizens, and to promote the security of primary registration documents.
Maisha Namba is described as a third-generation ID card system that will provide a unique number to every Kenyan citizen, allowing them access to government services. It will also serve as a lifelong identity from birth to death and will replace traditional birth certificate numbers.
However, the program faced a setback when the Kenya High Court halted its rollout in the pilot phase following a petition filed by the Katiba Institute, which argued that Kenya had no legal basis to implement the Maisha Namba system.
The Gates Foundation’s involvement in the Maisha Namba program has raised concerns, with critics fearing the possibility of a social credit system similar to those in other countries.
Residents of the northeastern town of Garissa have also urged the government to cancel the launch of the program, citing concerns about poor network availability.
The Gates Foundation has been advocating for a customizable digital ID system since 2018, with the launch of the Modular Open Source Identity Platform. The foundation claims that digital IDs are an effective tool against poverty and aims to register 1 billion people over the next decade, while working on ways to integrate it with other systems.
The United Nations Development Programme has expressed support for the Kenyan ID program, but rights groups have raised concerns about the potential for discrimination and the erosion of privacy.
Despite the setbacks and resistance, the Kenyan government remains committed to the program, with the Gates Foundation seeing vast opportunities in the existence of a digital identity in Kenya.
Overall, the Maisha Namba program has sparked widespread debate and opposition in Kenya, with concerns about privacy, discrimination, and technological feasibility being at the forefront of the discussion.
