Huduma Centres help Kenya save Sh12 billion, new report shows

Kenyans have saved in excess of Sh9 billion that they would have otherwise paid as bribes to renew identity cards, a new report has revealed.

The report titled ‘Cost Analysis Benefit to Citizens’ prepared by the Huduma Kenya Programme, states that Kenyans have saved Sh12.6 billion cumulatively in the last three years, thanks to the programme.

This is for the 17 most sought after government services. The services include the issuance of  certificates of good conduct that saved Kenyans Sh845 million, birth certificates (Sh747 million), assessment stamp duty (Sh282 million) and ID cards (Sh9 billion).

According to the report, Kenyans would have paid Sh9 billion as bribes and related expenses to have their IDs renewed over the last three years. The report based its findings on bribes that Kenyans could have parted with to be served, cumulative savings on transport costs to government service points, time spent lining up or waiting to be served and computation services.

The cost of transport was pegged at an average of Sh200 per return trip to a government service point. The average size of a bribe was pegged on findings by Transparency International and the cost of time was pegged at Sh100 for every hour spent to be served.

“In comparison to government investments of Sh3 billion, the Huduma Programme benefits outweigh the costs by a factor of four. The impact Huduma Kenya Services have created is much greater than the investment made by the Government,” said Huduma’s Dennis Mutuku.