Huduma Kenya launches public awareness drive in 10 Counties Lilian Mutegi

The government has launched a public awareness initiative to popularize Huduma Centres at the county level.

The initiative covering Meru, Embu, Kirinyaga, Muranga, Kajiado, Kericho, Kisii, Kisumu, Mombasa and Kwale will educate residents on the services available and encourage them to visit the closest centres to experience these services first hand.

90 percent of Kenyans live outside Nairobi, of these, 68 percent reside in the rural areas according to the 2009 KNBS Census statistics, majority of these residents continuously report limited access to government services. To bridge this yawning gap, government in November 2013 launched Huduma centres, a one stop shop providing41 services of up to 18 ministries in a bid to increase service accessibility.

Since then it has rolled out 11 centres with a further 19 centres being opened in 2015 as part of a plan to have at least one centre in all 47 counties.

The Huduma centres have led to more efficient service delivery such as, the reduction of time taken to register and get a National ID, which has since been expedited to 18 days within Nairobi and 38 days in other areas. The process of application and issuing of Kenyan passports has been made easier. This was only previously possible at 7 main towns.

The Government has also trained an additional 600 officers to cope with the increasing demand for quality services at the various Huduma centres countrywide.

The awareness campaign is simultaneously being carried out in at least ten counties.