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Senate probe into Huduma Namba a farce, say senators

HUDUMA NAMBA
By IBRAHIM ORUKO
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The meeting between senators and two Cabinet secretaries about the controversial implementation of the Sh6 billion digital registration system ended in disarray Thursday after some lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction over how Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji conducted the meeting.
While Mr Haji, in the company of Cabinet Secretaries Fred Matiang'i (Interior) and Joe Mucheru (ICT), said the meeting was successful because the issues raised by the lawmakers were effectively responded to, a section of youthful senators demurred, declaring that the meeting was an assault on the supremacy of Parliament and its oversight role.
The senators had invited Dr Matiang'i and Mr Mucheru to explain the critical aspects of the National Integrated Information Management Systems (Niims), popularly known as Huduma Namba.
MEDIA OUT
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot raised the issue on the floor a month ago, demanding insight into the tendering exercise: whether it was an open or closed tender and which companies got the award.
They also wanted to know the mechanisms put in place to protect Kenyans' private information.
The lawmakers are seeking to understand why the government is determined to implement Niims, despite lack of necessary laws and the fact that Parliament has not been involved in the implementation.
However, trouble started when, upon the arrival of the ministers, Mr Haji, who chairs the committee on security, declared that the meeting was to be conducted behind closed doors, edging out the media.
This angered a section of senators who appeared to have been caught by surprise by what they said was a unilateral decision by the chairman.
"The meeting was restrictive. We didn’t interrogate the issue as much as we wished," Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei told journalists soon after Mr Haji and the ministers had briefed the media
SUBJUDICE
His sentiments were supported by the Minority Whip Mutula Kilonzo Junior who said the concerns raised by his colleagues, and which necessitated the invitation of the ministers, were not addressed.
But Senator Haji argued that they had a fruitful engagement, and they were satisfied with the responses submitted to the committee.
"Our concerns have been addressed, and we are satisfied with the deliberations of the meeting," Mr Haji said.
With respect to blocking journalists from covering the meeting, he said: "The reasons why we decided to exclude the media was because we wanted to have an in-depth discussion on this issue. As you are aware, the matter is in court. [Thus], if we open it up for public discourse it may end up embarrassing the Attorney-General when he goes to defend the case in court."
He however insisted the committee is open to the idea of deliberating over the issue once the court makes a determination, and media will be invited.
PRIVACY LAW
Dr Matiang'i said he was pleased with how the session was conducted, but refused to discuss the matter further.
According to senators who attended the meeting but did not wish to be on record, critical issues such as practicability and sustainability of the system and why it was effected through the Statutory Miscellaneous (Amendment) Act instead of a substantive bill were not tackled.
"The kind of data which the government is collecting is a sensitive and serious matter. There is a risk we could run foul of Article 31 of the Constitution on the right to privacy," Mr Cherargei observed, even as he dismissed Mr Haji’s assertion on the court case.
"The court case has nothing to do with our concerns. They are totally different matter."
The lawmakers want the Ministry of ICT to facilitate a stakeholders forum where the issue of data protection will be discussed.
They also want the Senate and National Assembly debate on the Data Protection Bill, currently before the Senate, to be fast-tracked and adopted without the rancour that has defined relationship between the two Houses of Parliament.

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