The Huduma Namba will soon be mandatory for transactions using the hugely popular mobile money platform M-Pesa as well as for other financial operations, the Central Bank of Kenya has said in its National Payments Strategy report for the period 2022-2025.

Soko Directory reports that the principal reason advanced by the central bank is the need to tighten security around digital payments which have surged following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The bank notes that there were about 2.2 billion digital financial transactions in Kenya in 2021.

“The expected rollout of the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS commonly known as the Huduma Namba will provide a key impetus to further deepen the adoption, safety and robustness of digital payments…There will be a need for increased vigilance and alertness in a post-COVID payments world to protect systems against increasing cases of cyber-attacks and AML/CBT risks,” a portion of the report reads.

The Huduma Namba has been a subject of controversy in Kenya as many activists have picked holes in the digital ID scheme.

Ugandan elderly to get IDs for social welfare program

Uganda’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) says it is working to issue national ID cards to some elderly citizens to enable them have access to the government-run Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE).

As KFM reports, the move will be carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

The country’s State Minister for Elderly Persons’ Affairs, Dominic Mafwabi Gidudu, told reporters at a press conference that the idea is to let seniors easily access government programs intended for them.

The minister mentioned that about 54,000 elderly people do not benefit from SAGE because of a lack of national ID.

A date for registration is yet to be fixed. - Ayang Macdonald, BiometricUpdate.com