Huduma Centre in Kajiado town has witnessed an increase in the number of residents seeking government services.
Huduma Centre Manager Joyce Nyoike has attributed the increase in numbers to fast and efficient delivery of services offered at the center and awareness by the residents of the existence of the one-stop shop in the town.
Nyoike noted that availability of the government services under one roof has attracted many people as it is convenient as compared to the old system of moving from one office to another.
“Availability of government services at one place has made it very convenient for members of the public because when they come here, they are able to access any service they want under one roof as opposed to moving from one office to another,” she said.
She added that many locals also preferred seeking services at the Huduma Centre as it has helped curtail corruption.
The Manager revealed that the Centre serves an average of 700-1000 residents weekly seeking various government services such as registration of self-help groups, companies and community-Based Organizations (CBOs), application and replacement of Identity Cards and issuance of birth and death certificates.
Other services available at the centre include: National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), National Social Security Fund (NSSF), National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) services, application of police abstract and Retirement Benefits Authority among others.
Residents of Kajiado East and Kajiado South have however urged the government to open up Huduma Centres at the two sub-counties as they still have to travel for many kilometres to access the services in Kajiado town and Kisamis.
Paul Saningo, a resident of Isara in Kajiado East said he has to travel for over 50 kilometres to the nearest centre in Kajiado town to access government services.
He revealed that the nearest government offices are also located many kilometres away in Mashuuru town and this has made it quite costly to seek the services.
“I want to urge the government to open a Huduma Centre in Mashuuru so that all residents seeking government services from Kajiado East will have easy access,” said Saningo.
Josephine Naserian, a resident of Kimana echoed Saningo’s sentiments adding that she has to travel all the way to Loitokitok to access government services at different offices and the opening up of a one-stop shop at the area would convenience them greatly.
The Huduma Kenya Programme is a Kenya Vision 2030 flagship project that was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013.
It adopts a one-stop shop approach that enables citizens to access government services from the same location and through integrated electronic platforms.
The objective was to ensure services are brought down to the grassroots level and also to ensure that women, youth and people living with disabilities access important government services.
Currently, there are 52 Huduma Centres spread across the 47 counties.
Huduma Kenya services are available through five integrated platforms: Huduma Center, Online e-huduma portal, m-huduma (for mobile phones), Huduma call centers and multi-channel huduma payment gateway.
By Rop Janet
