Dear Listers, Sometimes, one can sit down and think. When thinking, you ask yourself if the government can be defeated or not. Personally, I do not know the perfect answer. I hope wherever you are, you are keeping safe and having the best of the last that 2021 can offer. This week, you have read about the comeback of *Huduma Namba *(National Integrated Identity Management System). This is a ‘single source of truth’ on a person’s identity. A few months ago, the High Court struck down the Government of Kenya’s decision to roll out the issuance of Huduma Cards due to violations of the Data Protection Act, 2019. The state was told to conduct a data protection impact assessment <https://www.kictanet.or.ke/what-is-a-data-protection-impact-assessment/> before anything else takes place. (Kenyans were happy of course). In response, the Government has come up with "Huduma Bill 2021" (attached) for those who need to read its contents. For those who do not know, KiCTANET has been on the forefront to highlight the gaps and also offer what needs to be done to have progress especially when it comes to Huduma Number. Below are links to them: 1. *Huduma Namba - time to get it right <https://www.kictanet.or.ke/?mdocs-file=42680>* By Mutindi Muema, Tevin Mwenda and Angela Minayo Edited by: Grace Githaiga. The aim of this policy brief is to address any issues related to registration, legal identity and the administration and use of digital IDs. 2. *Digital Identification Law in Kenya <https://www.kictanet.or.ke/?mdocs-file=42671>: *The State of Play Author: Prof. Sylvia Kang’ara Edited by: Grace Githaiga and Victor Kapiyo. The brief makes a number of recommendations, chief among them being the need to take into account and ensure compliance with the directives of the High Court. 3. This is a report* "Implementing Huduma Namba: Challenges and Prospects" <https://www.kictanet.or.ke/?mdocs-file=42661>. *The study found a variety of best practices on national digital identities from the United States of America, Estonia and India. Additionally, there are international standards on digital identity such as the World Economic Forum Emerging Best Practices which advocates for digital identity to be fit for purpose, inclusive, useful, secure and offer choice to registrants. 4. Documentary *"Huduma Namba: Emerging Issues on Kenya's Future Digital ID System" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crr60Y5UP_A&list=PLYSO7PoCyXHTwq-QvaWYbLLBAQY5_tyOS>* NB- the links enable you to download the pdf version. *Kind Regards,* *David Indeje *_____________________________________ +254 (0) 711 385 945 | +254 (0) 734 024 856 <https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-indeje/>