The Huduma Kenya program was officially established in November 7, 2013, with the first physical Huduma Centre opening at the General Post Office (GPO) in Nairobi. The nationwide rollout and official grand opening of the initial service centers followed on April 4, 2013 by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The aim of these centres is to bring Government services closer to the people. The program was established as a Kenya Vision 2030 flagship project aimed at streamlining and digitizing citizen access to various public services. The word Huduma is a swhali word meaning service.

The centres have now been expanded to dozens of physical locations across counties, including centres at the sub-county and constituency levels

The Huduma Kenya Platform offers over 150 government services across its physical and digital channels. Over 150 essential public and government services are available physically at over 60 operational Huduma Centres across Kenya’s counties, as well as online through the Huduma Kenya Platform and USSD code *191#

 Services offered Includes Identity Card (ID) applications, social services, and tax services from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), business registration, land services, and education inquiries among others.

 Individual Huduma Centres provide core physical services (such as ID applications, social services, and tax assistance) but the broader digital and mobile infrastructure links citizens to a wide array of digitized government functions, working alongside the integrated e-Citizen platform.

More than 22,000 government services have been uploaded and on boarded onto Kenya’s primary digital service portal, the eCitizen digital platform, up from roughly 350 services when the accelerated digitization drive began.

 Data from the Huduma Kenya Platform show nearly 45,000 citizens visit the physical Huduma centre offices in the country every day to access public services where millions of citizenry rely on these in-person locations annually, with physical visits topping 14 Million.

Currently, there are 61 operational Huduma Centres spread across the nation, providing physical access to government services.

For many residents of Kisumu, accessing government services has often meant moving from one office to another, spending money on transport and waiting for long hours before receiving assistance. A simple task such as applying for a driving licence, collecting an identification card or obtaining a birth certificate could require visits to different government departments.

However, the establishment of Huduma Centres has changed the way citizens access public services by bringing several government agencies together under one roof.

According to Samuel Kiroso, the Kisumu Huduma Centre manager, the idea behind

Huduma Centres is to make public services more accessible and convenient to the citizens.

“The basic reason for Huduma centres is to have services closer to the people, “Kiroso said.

Kenya has 60 Huduma centres with two operating in Kisumu. The manager said the Kisumu West Huduma centre was opened last year to help the residents who may find it difficult to travel to the main centre to get the services.

At Kisumu Huduma centre, residents can access services from 27 government departments with 66 services provided through the different agencies.

These include Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) services such as filing tax returns and other tax related activities. National Transport and Safety Authority services (NTSA) such as issuing driving license.

Other services include Kenya Universities and colleges Central Placement (KUCCPs), National Registration Bureau (NRB) which registers first time identification card,

The Kenya Revenue Authority services and the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) which assist people who are already blacklisted by different financial institutions and want to check their status.

For residents seeking education opportunities, the Kenya School of Government (KSG) services provided information on different courses while the Kenya Engineering Technology Registration Board (KETRB) offers services like licensing of professionals in the engineering and related fields so that they can practise in Kenya.

The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) offers custody to any financial assets that have not been claimed while trying to relocate its real beneficiaries or owners. They do this in ways such as placing advertisement in the media and sensitizing the public.

The convenience of accessing several services in one place is one of the main benefits of Huduma center.

The manager said Huduma centre is the “front face of the government” because it is often the first point of contact between the public and the government services.

The centre has also introduced measures to reduce congestion. Kiroso says that extension working hours introduced in 2024 has helped residents access services at more convenient time.     The Kisumu centre operates from 7.00am to 7;00pm allowing residents to choose when to come for services and avoid the morning rush.

Another measure is the appointment system which allows customers to book for services online before visiting the centre. Kiroso says this helps in managing traffic and reducing long queues.

Despite the benefits, the centre faces challenges just like any other institution. Limited space and increasing number of customers are some of the challenges.

Kiroso says the growing demand for services has led to congestion making it necessary to find ways of accommodating more people.

He explains that the opening of the Kisumu West Huduma centre was one of the measures taken to address the challenge and reduce pressure on the main centre in the City centre.

Another challenge is system breakdown. Kiroso says that when systems such as the National Registration Bureau (NRB) system experience downtime, customers may be forced to wait for long periods before their services can be processed. The centre follows up with the headquarters to address such challenges and ensure that services are restored as quickly as possible.

He adds that delays in the processing of documents such as Identification card can also inconvenience customers who need these documents. It’s worth noting that at Huduma Centres, they only handle replacement of lost or damaged Identify Cards or those that need some form of correction.

The first time Identity Card is processed in Department of Registrar of Persons where the documents are send to Nairobi for final processing. But on this issue, things are looking up because the Government has come up with portable machines which take this service to the people and process the document instantly.

As Huduma Centre continues to serve residents, the focus remains on making Government services more accessible, efficient and convenient.

With continued efforts to improve service delivery, Kisumu Huduma centre is demonstrating how one roof can bring together many services making life easier for citizens.

by Mabel Keya-Shikuku / Yvonne Adhiambo (Trainee)