Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has ruled out mandatory Maisha Card registration and announced banking on superior features to drive voluntary uptake.
The government was phasing out old IDs, explaining that any new applicants would receive the new chip-enabled Maisha Card.
The Maisha Namba rollout was blocked in December when the High Court ruled that it does not comply with Kenya’s Data Protection Act without a data protection impact assessment.
The ID card includes an electronic chip storing the bearer’s biometric and biographic data and is intended for use in accessing a wide variety of public services.
However, Kenyans have been raising concerns for months about including an expiry date on the new digital IDs.
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