By:
Kanto Kai Okanta
The
Communications Authority of Kenya has underscored the importance of a
coordinated national framework for addressing systems as discussions continue
on the National Addressing System (NAS) Bill, 2025.
The
Authority made the remarks during a stakeholder engagement, convened by the
Parliamentary Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation to review
the proposed legislation aimed at establishing a unified national addressing
structure.
The
Bill, sponsored by Kiambu Town MP Hon. Machua Waithaka, seeks to introduce a
standardized National Addressing System that would assign every property,
street and public facility a unique, location-based identifier. The proposed
system is expected to enhance service delivery, support e-commerce, improve
emergency response, strengthen security operations and accelerate Kenya’s
digital transformation agenda.
Communications
Authority of Kenya emphasized the need to avoid duplication of regulatory
mandates while ensuring the proposed framework is efficient, interoperable and
aligned with existing national systems.
Speaking
during the consultations, Director-General David Mugonyi highlighted the
importance of clearly defining institutional roles within the addressing
ecosystem to ensure seamless last-mile delivery of services for both citizens
and businesses.
He
noted that existing provisions under the Kenya Information and Communications
Act, 1998 already cover key areas such as numbering resources, postal services,
communications infrastructure and e-commerce development, which could support
the integration of a national addressing system without regulatory conflict.
Stakeholders
at the session stressed that a well-structured NAS would play a critical role
in strengthening Kenya’s digital economy by improving location accuracy,
enabling efficient logistics and supporting data-driven public service
delivery.
The
deliberations form part of ongoing parliamentary efforts to refine the Bill and
build consensus among regulators, policymakers and industry actors on the
future structure of Kenya’s addressing infrastructure.
