President William Ruto has promised to deliver digital IDs for Kenyans within the next 90 days.

Speaking on Friday, June 30, 2023, Ruto slammed Huduma Namba by the previous regime terming it as fraud where public money was lost. Huduma Namba was vouched to serve as the official government-issued document for identification and conduct of transactions. 

Under the flopped National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS), Huduma Namba would have been the primary database from which every personal information of residents in the country, such as that of voter information, taxes, and social services, would have been built.

In the next 90 days, we must have a Digital ID. We are all aware that there was another phantom project called Huduma Namba. Huduma Number was a complete fraud because we lost almost 15 billion shillings and got very little out of it. It is possible for us to have a Digital ID without spending 15 billion and without defrauding the people of Kenya. Those who did that should be ashamed of themselves,” Ruto stated.

Ruto, who spoke at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), promised that all government services will be digitised by the end of the year.

“Many people across the world, when I tell them we are going to have 100 per cent digitised government services by the end of this year, they wonder. Many people, including from the developed world, never believed that we will do (digitise) 5,000 government services in six months. It became possible because of the young people of the Republic of Kenya,” he added.

Ruto gives new paybill

During the event, Ruto also directed state agencies to close down multiple paybill numbers to allow Kenyans to pay for services using a single channel.

The President said the move is aimed at centralising payment of government services and increasing accountability.

The President revealed that the official government paybill number is ‘222222’ which will be managed by the National Treasury. Any agency operating a different paybill is required to shut it down within 90 days.