Members of the public have been advised to take advantage of extended working hours at the Huduma Centres in order to access selected government services.
This follows a government decision last month in which Public Service and Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa announced that all 18 Huduma Centres countrywide will start operating for 12 hours a day.
Through her official Twitter handle, Jumwa directed that the centres will operate from 7am to 7pm on weekdays.
But despite the extension Nyeri County Huduma Center Manager Florence Ndunge says the number of people taking advantage of the new directive is still low, more than a month since the announcement.
“We are appealing to members of the public to take advantage of the new working arrangement to come and access government services of their choice since we have increased our working hours from 7 am to 7 pm during the normal working days. We kicked off this new service on December 5 this year but the number of people visiting our desks is still low.We therefore wish to call upon those in need of our services but cannot be available during the normal working hours to visit us during those hours,” she has appealed.
Among services that one can access during the extended hours include those dealing with Registration of Persons, Civil Registration of Births and Deaths, National Hospital Insurance Fund, Kenya Revenue Authority and the Directory of Criminal Investigation (for those intending to apply for police abstract and certificate of Good Conduct).
To enhance awareness on the enhanced service delivery, Ms Ndunge says they are partnering with churches and local chiefs to sensitise the public on the need to take advantage of the new provision.
She has also appealed to those who have already benefited from the extension to create awareness among those living in their neighbourhood.
“In a bid to create awareness to members of the public we have decided to partner with the churches and the local administration through chiefs and their assistants in ensuring this message gets to a larger audience. Similarly, we are appealing to those who have benefitted from this extension to become our goodwill ambassadors in passing the message to friends and those living around them so that they too can benefit from these services,” she added.
By Samuel Maina
