Kenya dedicates $117M to digital ID, related projects in 2024/2025 budget

The rollout of the Maisha Namba digital ID and other digital government processes in Kenya is expected to get traction next year as the country has allocated the sum of 15.13 billion Shilling (US$117 million) to cover different activities.

The Ministry of Interior disclosed this budgetary allocation for the 2024/2025 financial year recently in a message posted to its X (formerly Twitter) account.

Per the figures from the ministry, the $117 million budget of the State Department for Immigration has been distributed under different heads which include the processing of digital IDs and passports as mentioned in a government plan discussed in May.

The ministry said the budget will ensure the “digitization of citizen services designed to streamline and shorten waiting times and make government services more accessible through digital platforms.”

According to the Ministry, the sum of 6.88 billion Shilling (US$53.3 million) will be dedicated to population management services, while 7.03 billion Shilling (US$ 54.4 million) will be channelled to migration and citizen services.

Under population management services, department says it will ensure the issuance of 7.5 million digital and third generation ID cards, 1.5 million biometric passports, 6.3 million birth certificates and 2.3 million biometric visas. Another service to be delivered under this budget head is the rollout of the Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) which will be issued from birth.

With regards to migration and citizen services, the Department says it has big ambitions. The budget will cover a number of actions which include, but not limited, to the acquisition of two high-capacity passport printers to expedite passport issuance, fast track the implementation of the visa free regime, install a facial recognition system at nine one stop border posts around the country, and the onboarding of 33,800 more services to the e-Citizen platform which was unveiled in June last year with an initial 5,000 services.

Meanwhile, the sum of 1.22 billion Shilling (US$9.4 million) has been allocated to issues related to general administration and planning.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  Kenya  |  Maisha Namba  |  Unique Personal Identifier (UPI)