Huduma Namba: Kenya’s Transformation into an Informational State

Abstract

In 2019, despite intense domestic public opposition, the Kenyan state established a country-wide digital registration database known as “Huduma Namba” in an effort to improve service provision, weed out fraudulent IDs, and fight against terrorism by Al-Shabaab, According to official government statements. Kenya is not alone in this data consolidation trend; several countries, including India and Turkey, have implemented centralized digital identity registries. Many scholars that have assessed the Huduma Namba implementation have highlighted the data security risks, potential exclusion of part of the population and increased surveillance. However, few have unpacked how the project empowers the state, particularly intelligence and defense apparatus, and ruling political elite. In this paper, I argue that Huduma Namba empowers these entities in the Kenyan government relative to domestic interests. This pursuit of informational power, coupled with aspects of technological determinism, inform Kenya’s transition to becoming an informational state. Using theoretical frameworks on state policy choices, I examine the Huduma Namba case study between 2012 to early 2020 through government and stake-holder publications and websites, news media, and social media. This case proves useful to understanding Kenya’s digital governance and transition into an informational state because it demonstrates how actors in the internal bureaucratic structure have aligned to support the move despite public opinion. Future research would expound on data privacy, security and exclusion.