Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has stated that the Government will appeal the High Court’s decision invalidating Huduma Namba through the Attorney General.
Matiang’i revealed the information to freshly appointed assistant county commissioners at the Kenya School of Adventure and Leadership (KESAL) in Meru County on Friday, October 15.
The Huduma Namba roll-out in December last year was deemed illegal by the High Court because the government neglected to complete a data protection impact assessment before issuing the cards.
“Huduma card is essentially a collation of different identity documents already issued and certified by the Government. The argument that the relevant validation data wasn’t factored in is therefore spurious,” he said.
At least Sh10.6 billion was spent on the Huduma Namba registration and roll-out campaign.
Huduma Namba was declared illegal by High Court Judge Jairus Ngaah on Thursday, October 14, citing a violation of data protection regulations in the process.
The National Assembly passed the Data Protection Act without consulting the Senate, which led to a legal challenge by the Senate.
23 of the laws were later found unlawful by a three-judge panel. The Government was chastised by Justice Ngaah for collecting and processing data under the unconstitutional Act.
