Thousands of residents from Kirinyaga County have benefited from Huduma Kenya services that brought government services closer to the people in a single stop environment.
The Huduma Center Kirinyaga marked their seventh year since inception in a celebration held in their premises.
Speaking during the event Center Manager Rhoda Mwanzia said the facility currently serves almost 500 customers per day up from 150 when it opened its doors.
She acknowledged that the office of county commissioner has been helpful especially when conducting Huduma Mashinani sensitisation where they move to specific identified points to offer services.
The center with over 65 staff offers 15 different national and county government services and is expected to almost triple its services due to digitization of more government services.
Ms Mwanzia further acknowledged the commitment of the staff to serve the customers to their satisfaction
“We are happy as Kirinyaga to be part of the team marking 7 years. We have been offering quality services and getting much assistance from the office of County Commissioner through Deputy County Commissioners, Assistant County Commissioners and chiefs when we are doing Huduma Mashinani,” she said.
“We started with 15 staff but we have grown to 65 offering around 15 services for both levels of government” Ms Mwanzia added.
Kirinyaga Central Deputy County Commissioner Daniel Ndege, who represented the County Commissioner, said the Huduma Center has enabled residents to access service and cut on the cost of transport citing his experience in the past where it would take 6 months to get an Identification Card only from the District Office which was far away.
He added he will fully support the Huduma Mashinani services by mobilizing Assistant County Commissioners and Chiefs to assist the staff during such events.
Ndege noted that the biggest challenge was those who apply for the Identification Cards and fail to collect them.
“The biggest challenge is those applying for IDs and they don’t pick. At one point the center had over 5000 IDs but after we launched a Rapid Results Initiative for track and tracing the owners using the chiefs, currently we have around 600. We will join hands with MCAs to ensure that the owners get the document,” Ndege said.
One of the Huduma services beneficiary Kevin Njeru said the Huduma has brought efficiency and easy access to government services. He recalled going to Nyeri for NTSA services and Nairobi for Pension services which would take more than a week and then you may not complete the whole process.
The Huduma Centers countrywide will mark 10 years’ anniversary later this year since it was first launched in 2013.
By Mutai Kipngetich
