State's drive to digitise raises number of Huduma centres

The rush by the State to digitise its services has seen the number of Huduma centres that are operational reach the 40 mark.

According to the head of the Huduma Kenya Secretariat, Dennis Mutuku, each of the 47 counties in the country will have a Huduma centre by the end of this financial year, with the latest beneficiaries of Huduma services being Nyamira, Kwale, Makueni, Kibra and Thika.

The 40 centres are located in Nairobi (GPO Nairobi, City Square, Makadara, Eastleigh, Kibra), Mombasa, Bungoma, Siaya, Kitui, Embu, Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega, Kajiado, Machakos, Meru, Isiolo, Wajir, Turkana, Nyeri, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kwale, Makueni, Nyamira and Thika among other areas.

"Our customers experience the same efficient services whether they are in Wajir, Nairobi, Kwale or even Turkana. However, delays may sometimes occur in regional centres arising from documents that require further clarifications but we always find solutions to deliver in good time," says Mr Mutuku.

Huduma Kenya is a Government programme established to enhance access and delivery of Government services to all Kenyans.

It uses the concept of integrated service delivery (ISD) in a one-stop shop, something that has not been utilised before, even in some of the more developed nations of the world. It is only now that some of the more socio-economically advanced countries are at various stages of implementing similar concepts and structures.

ISD is now a globally accepted standard for public service innovation in service delivery and has been adopted by a number of developed and developing countries such as Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Australia, Brazil and India.

The one-stop shop service delivery programme provides different channels for integrated Government services to the public, including physical centres, online and mobile phone platforms and a unified and integrated multi-channel payment gateway, Huduma Card, to facilitate easy receipt and payment of Government services.

"We believe in going the extra mile to ensure that every customer's needs are met when it comes to service delivery regardless of region," Mutuku explained.

He said that where services are not available, customers are referred to the relevant ministries or departmental offices, but that Huduma staff follow up to ensure the services are provided as quickly as possible.

The initiative is already bench-marking against world-class best practice in service delivery.