Over five million Kenyans have been issued with the Huduma Namba in the ongoing national registration exercise that started last week Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i Friday said.
Matiang’i has commended leaders including Opposition Leader Raila Odinga who have come out to rally the people to participate in the ongoing National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) exercise.
The CS announced that the government would increase the number of the registration kits countrywide to take care of the upsurge in the number of people seeking to register and that centres would be opening at 6 am to cater for those going to work.
“I have seen the long queues by residents waiting to get their Huduma Namba and promise four more kits for this centre to ensure that the process is faster and goes smoothly,” said the CS when he assessed the registration exercise at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports ground in Kisumu Friday.
Nyanza Regional Commissioner James Kianda who flanked the CS also disclosed that more than180, 000 residents had participated in the exercise in Kisumu County by close of business on Thursday.
The CS asked the residents to ignore pessimists who have associated the process with the biblical mark of the beast stating that Huduma Namba was for the benefit of Kenyans and would enhance efficiency in planning and delivery of government services.
Also present at the function were Kisumu governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o, Kisumu County Member of Parliament Ms. Rosa Buyu and Regional Commissioner James Kianda among other top security bosses and local leaders.
The local leaders commended the government for launching the NIIMS imitative saying it would bring equity and streamline access to government services and urged residents to embrace the exercise.
On security, the CS disclosed that the government was instituting elaborate measures aimed at bringing to an end rampant cattle rustling that has been blamed for instigating conflict among communities residing along the Kisumu-Nandi border.
He said the government is going to beef up security and set up an Anti-Stock Theft Unit in a move intended to rein in the perennial cattle theft along the volatile border.
The security boss added that the government would also establish additional police posts and deploy more police officers to the hot spot areas in heightened efforts to ensure sustainable peace among the neighbouring communities residing in the region.
He said a Rapid Deployment Unit would be set up in the county to swiftly respond to insecurity alarms raised the by residents.
Matiang’i who spoke in the wake of escalating insecurity that has hit Kisumu in the recent past further assured the residents that the government would reinforce the number of police officers in the county to deal with runaway crime in the region.
The CS later headed to Nyamira and Kisii Counties where he was scheduled to assess projects under the National Development Implementation and Communication programme even as he expressed confidence that the governments would register all eligible persons in the country before the lapse of the NIIMS exercise.
By Ian Wafula/Milton Onyango
