Huduma Centres to be rollout in all counties

By STANDARD REPORTER

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Government plans to roll out more Huduma Service Centres and accompanying services in all the 47 counties in the country, a senior official has said. Head of Huduma Secretariat Dennis Mutuku said the centres, fondly referred to in government circles as the ‘crown jewel of government,’ are transforming public service delivery by providing prompt and seamless service using digital tools.

 “They seek to save Kenyans the agony of moving from one State office to another in search of public service, which often was frustrating and discouraging, into a one-stop-shop,” said Mr Mutuku.

SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

The Huduma Centre concept is one of the public service transformation initiatives led by President Uhuru Kenyatta. It stands out as the successful project of the Government since it took over the reins of power last year.

Huduma centres are operational in Nairobi and Machakos counties. In Nairobi, they are found at GPO Centre, City Square and Makadara. President Kenyatta officially launched the premier Huduma Kenya Centre at Teleposta Towers late last year. More than 28,000 people were served at the GPO Huduma centre in the first three months of its inception. The centres enable people to access various public services and information from integrated service platforms, aimed at promoting efficiency in public service delivery.

WEB PORTAL

This is hoped to eliminate avenues for corruption. The centres currently offer more than 21 services, from 12 ministries, departments and agencies, with the most sought after services being the issuance of duplicate identity cards, seasonal parking tickets for Nairobi County, NHIF and NSSF claims.

 When fully operational, Huduma will offer an online e-Huduma web portal to provide integrated services offered by ministries, departments and State agencies and a mobile phone m-Huduma platform to offer M-Government services to Kenyans from the convenience of their mobile phones such as enquiries and application.

Others will include Huduma call centres and integrated multi-channel payment gateway to ease payments for government services including from Visa, PayPal and MPesa.