The government has denied claims that the newborns will be implanted with an electronic chip to act as their digital identification card (ID).
According to Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof Julius Bitok, the misinformation was propagated by a firm that lost a bid to lead the digital rollout project in the country.
He explained during a meeting with the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) at Waumini House after a call to clarify the reports
“The propaganda that we are inserting chips into babies was fuelled by them (vendors) as a result of the government’s refusal to take them up on this project,” he stated.
“Some have wanted to take the Maisha Namba from the ground but we declined their proposal on the basis that this is Kenyan ID and process and we already have a foundational ID. Maisha Namba is just an upgrade.”
Prof. Bitok defended the decision to consider homegrown IT solutions in the digital migration to concerns over data protection and integrity and thus foreign firms could not be entrusted to undertake the project.
He said that although there has been competing pressure from leading global technology firms for partnerships on digital ID, the government prefers to improve on the existing digital foundation using local experts.
According to Bitok, the decision to go local was also borne out of a deliberate policy to promote local enterprises in general and techie firms in particular, a position that has apparently upset global digital technology giants.
Some Kenyans had also raised concerns over the involvement of billionaire Bill Gates in the project expressing fear that it could be one medical experiment being piloted in Kenya.
However, Bill Gates has yet to respond to the allegations.
