Kenya National Civil Society Centre executive director Suba Churchill has called on the government to conduct an audit into the defunct Huduma Namba before rolling out Maisha cards.
Speaking on KTN News on Friday, Churchill said there is a need for Kenyans to know what went wrong with Huduma Namba before being made to enroll for another.
He said the President should form a task force similar to the one formed to look into issues affecting the rollout and implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
He said this will be in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of Kenya on public finance that requires resources to be deployed optimally for the benefit of Kenyans.
“First of all we need to start with what went wrong with Huduma Namba, an honest audit because you cannot just start new things because you don’t like the face of those who led the previous one,” he said.
He said the Huduma Namba project was rolled out when the current President William Ruto was the second in command and hence must have played a role in its initiation and implementation.
“I think it will be unwise not to go back into what was spent and what exactly is wrong,” he said.
“There can be some way of looking at whatever may have gone wrong with the Huduma Namba and making improvements on it so that it is continued, but knowing how governments operate it boils down to tenders."
President Ruto is set to launch the third-generation identity cards also known as Maisha cards in two weeks.
The government announced that the objective of the new cards is to ensure that citizens have easy access to public and private sector services, even from the comfort of their homes.
The digital identity system is expected to provide Kenyans with a secure and reliable way to verify their identity for various purposes, including accessing government services, opening bank accounts and traveling.
The cards are also expected to help reduce fraud and corruption and improve efficiency.
