National Integration Identity Management System (NIIMS) popularly known as Huduma Namba project could now stall following MPs drastic cuts.

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Budget Appropriation Committee under Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah has slashed the budget by Sh800 million, with the Interior Ministry having requested Sh1 billion to complete the project.

Ichung'wah instead said that the committee has allocated Sh200 million for the project, calling for an immediate probe into Sh6 billion which had been disbursed.

“The Office of the Auditor- General (should) carry out a special forensic audit of the National Integrated Identity Management Systems to establish the value for money and submit a report to the National Assembly by end of March 2020,” the committee said in the report tabled on Wednesday.

Last week, Interior PS Karanja Kibicho defended Sh1 billion allocation, arguing that the money had been budgeted for in 2019/20 financial year.

"For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to reiterate that no money has been requested or budgeted for the printing of Huduma Namba cards in the current financial year," PS Kibicho said.

The country is currently struggling to finance critical projects, with former Treasury CS Henry Rotich accused of cooking figures to give a wrong impression of financial status.

The cuts are part of the Sh29.4 billion in State spending in the year to June 2020 with MPs saying that budget has for years been based on unrealistic revenue projections and not on the economic outlook.

Under NIIMS, the State collected and was to combine various identity document numbers, including the national ID, passport, driver’s licence, National Social Security Fund and the National Hospital Insurance Fund numbers of all Kenyans.