You'll pay for Huduma Centre services, CS Moses Kuria tells Kenyans
Public Service, Performance, and Delivery Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has announced that the government will soon introduce a fee for services offered at Huduma Centres across the country. This as the CS also fired a warning shot to 900,000 public servants, saying it will not be business as usual and that they must perform or quit because the days of laziness are gone.
Speaking on Monday after he officially took over office from counterpart Aisha Jumwa, Mr Kuria said the fee will be charged on both government and private sector services.
He, however, did not reveal how much the fee will be.
“My first area in that endeavour is to ensure Huduma Centres do not depend on money from the Exchequer but we generate our own revenue. You have been enjoying this service for so long without paying for it. Now there will be no more free lunch. You have to pay for it,” said Mr Kuria.
The centres see about 60,000 daily transactions.
The CS explained that President William Ruto challenged his ministry on the issue of sustainability of Huduma centres by ensuring they do not solely depend on the Exchequer.
Some of the services that are set to be affected include renewal of driver’s licences, duplicate national identity cards and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Others include National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) registration and claims, HELB – Student Loan application and repayments, registration of welfare groups, issuance of police abstracts, single business permit and stamp duty assessment among others.
The former Trade CS said he also intends to expand the reach of the Huduma centres in the country by ensuring there is a Huduma centre in each of the 893 Postal Corporation offices in the country.
“We will talk to the Postal Corporation of Kenya to ensure everywhere there is a postal office there is Huduma Centre because Kenyans have shown they have faith and confidence in the centres,” he said.
