Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary (PS) Julius Bitok today had a conversation with the religious leaders on the Maisha Digital ID, where they agreed to support the initiative. In a second meeting with the religious leaders to discuss issues of public concern, Bitok said that the government is keen on introducing the Maisha number, Card, Digital ID and Integrated data and merging all four items into one. ‘We have 698 public participation forums across the country supported by our National Government and Administration Service, and this is a bid to engage more to sensitise the public because issues to do with identity involve a lot of stakeholders and many partners across the board,’ stated Bitok. Speaking when he hosted religious leaders to a stakeholders’ engagement forum on the digital ID and Maisha Number (Unique Personal Identifier), the PS said he was elated to have engagements with civil society, the private sector, the media, development partners, the business community, and other persons engaged in the digital identity ecosystem. ‘Today’s meeting brought more understanding to broaden the scope and be able to explain more details about what we are doing to ensure that we roll out this Maisha number,’ he emphasised. Bitok announced that on Tuesday, October 31, the State Department has planned a meeting with Civil Society to explain to them more about important projects. He also called upon interested groups to continue submitting the memorandum of the issues they felt needed to be taken care of in the project. ‘The government is keen to listen to every concern and idea, whether small or big, to ensure that we get it right this time,’ he assured. The PS, who highlighted several attempts that were made concerning the Digital ID which failed due to lack of more public participation, maintained the government’s determination to make it work this time. Religious leaders present in this public participation forum were drawn from different denominations, including NCCK, the Hindu Council, and the Catholic Church, among others.
Source: Kenya News Agency