Relief for residents as Huduma Centre opens in Kisumu

KISUMU: President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Kisumu Huduma Centre as part of Government's plan to roll out 22 centres across the country in the next two months.

He assured residents of the lakeside city of efficient and effective public services from the Huduma Centre, which is part of the Government's plan to fully digitise public services.

The centres offer a total of 41 services with the newest being issuance of birth certificates, issuance of certificates of good conduct, Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board (KASNEB) services, issuance of clearance certificates and reporting and issuance of passports. The service hall is able to seat 250- 300 people at any one time.

Other centres will be established in the next quarter in Kirinyaga, Marsabit, Murang'a, Samburu, Nandi, Busia, Kilifi, Homa Bay, Migori, Nyandarua, Tharaka Nithi, Makueni, Lamu, Taita Taveta, Baringo, Kericho, Laikipia, Nyamira and Trans Nzoia.

Bureaucratic system

Two years ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the first Huduma Centre at GPO in Nairobi. He said the move was to end what he described as a bureaucratic system that created inefficiency, bred corruption, wasted time and cost billions of shillings.

Over the years, services provided to people in government offices in any part of the country have been characterised by endless, static queues in which countless hours were wasted.

In the President's words: "Kenyans and visitors became accustomed to being frustrated numerous times in their quest for public service: 'Come tomorrow'; 'Go to this or that other office first... Public service became the epitome of inefficiency. This inefficiency bred corruption, initiating a cycle of vice which has tormented many and cost the country billions."