PS: You will need an appointment to get government services
Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kimonye (centre) tours Nakuru Huduma Centre on August 25.
What you need to know:
- Besides reducing congestion, the new mode of operation is expected to reduce the time Kenyans take to wait for services at the various centres in the country.
- Even as the government improves service delivery, many Kenyans have not collected their National Identification cards.
Government services at Huduma Centres across the country will be by appointment if a pilot project at Nairobi GPO is successful, Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kimonye has revealed.
The new system will be rolled out across the country to reduce the congestion at the centres.
Huduma centres offer government services including renewal of drivers’ licences, application for birth and death certificates, registration of National Hospital Insurance Fund and National Social Security Fund cards. Kenyans can also get police abstracts and apply for Higher Education Loans Board loans.
Other services include application and replacement of lost national identification cards, registration of welfare groups, issuance of single business permits and stamp duty assessment among others.
Long queues
The City GPO, which is the biggest Huduma Centre in the country which was closed due to Covid-19, has since been opened. The government is undertaking the pilot project at a time when the country is battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
The long queues at the centres are expected to end should the new system be implemented. Besides reducing congestion, the new mode of operation is expected to reduce the time Kenyans take as they wait for services at the various centres in the country.
“The government is committed to offering first-class services to its citizens, that is why it has come up with this innovative way of offering services by appointment," said Ms Kimonye.
"Once we roll out the service by appointment, one will only need to make a phone call or go to our website and register before they are given a date of appointment through a short text message," said the PS when she toured Nakuru GPO Huduma Centre last week.
She added: "Apart from controlling crowds, this will safeguard the health of Kenyans and also give them an option of choosing when and how they would like to receive government services.”
Ms Kimonye assured Kenyans that the Ministry of Health guidelines and other social distancing measures will be adhered to in all Huduma centres.
Even as the government improves service delivery, many Kenyans have not collected their National Identification cards.
She said that at least 6,000 ID cards are lying at Nakuru GPO Huduma Centre and urged the owners to go and collect them. Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya said they will use the chiefs to trace the owners of the documents.
