The government has set aside Ksh. 1 billion for Unique Personal Identifiers (UPIs) for all Kenyans.
Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok on Tuesday said the UPI will be issued to all citizens at birth.
It will be used as the official identifier throughout all education stages, tax payment through the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and as the death certificate number upon demise.
“We are implementing the president’s directive that we introduce a digital ID within 90 days. We shall now have a new number called the Maisha Number that everyone born in Kenya will have. It will be the birth certificate number, used as the ID number, for work, for KRA PIN,” Bitok said.
Speaking after meeting the National Digital Identity Technical Committee, Bitok said Kenyans who attain the age of 18 will be issued with a card dubbed Maisha Card.
He described the rollout as a phasing out of the current generation of IDs to identifiers that are accessible digitally.
“This is a move from second-generation to third-generation IDs. It will be accessible digitally so that those not willing to carry the physical copy can have a digital copy on their phones,” the PS said.
President William Ruto is expected to launch the UPI on September 29.
