• Process called illegal; judge ordered the government to carry out the impact assessment before rolling out the Huduma cards.
• High Court had directed the government to conduct a data protection impact assessment before rolling out the cards.
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Attorney General Kihara Kariuki has filed a notice of appeal against the judgement that quashed Huduma Namba cards rollout.
The judgment was delivered on Thursday by Justice Jairus Ngaah.
The AG said he is dissatisfied with the judgment.
Calling the Huduma Namba process illegal, the High Court had directed the government to conduct a data protection impact assessment before rolling out the cards.
It cited a lack of data protection.
However, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i on Friday said the decision to appeal was informed by "the conviction the High Court decision is based on wrong interpretation of the essence and the practical intentions of Huduma Card."
He said the Huduma Card is a collation of different identity documents already issued and certified by government agencies.
"The argument that the validation relevant data wasn’t factored is therefore spurious," Matiang'i said.
Many Kenyans have already been issued with the cards.
“An order of mandamus is hereby issued compelling the government to conduct a data protection impact assessment in accordance with Section 31 of the Data Protection Act before processing of data and rolling out the Huduma cards,” Ngaah ruled.
He further quashed the decision by the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government to roll out the Huduma Namba cards, saying it was illegal.
“An order is hereby issued to bring into this honourable court to quash the government's decision of November 18, 2020, to roll out Huduma cards for being ultra vires of the Data Protection Act 2019,” the court ruled.
The judge ordered the government to carry out the impact assessment before rolling out the Huduma cards
However, Justice Ngaah noted the order quashing the rollout of Huduma Namba was of no consequence because the state has already rolled out the cards.
The court also ruled that the state failed to ensure that the Bill of Rights, including the right to privacy, was respected and protected during the processing and rollout of the cards.
“The state had not appreciated the import and extent of the Data Protection Act with respect to the data collected under the National Integrated Identity Management System,” Ngaah ruled.