The Makueni county government through the Department of Gender, Children, Youth, Sports and Social Services has rolled out the second phase of Huduma Mashinani, aimed at taking services closer to the people.
The latest initiative follows a partnership between the County government, Makueni Huduma Centre and national government through the County Commissioner’s Office that has seen essential documents like birth certificates and identity cards among other services taken to the residents of Kasasule in Thange Ward, Kibwezi East Sub County.
This outreach also intends to alleviate the suffering that residents in the far flung parts of the county endure, as they have to travel for long distances thereby incurring to huge costs to access these essential services.
“We completed the first phase of the programme across all the 30 wards and now we are conducting the second phase in order to reach out to residents who might have missed out on the previous services,” said the County Executive for Gender, Children, Youth, Sports and Social Services, Sebastian Kyoni, while launching the programme at Kasasule market in Kambu Sub county on Thursday.
“The programme has significantly improved access to services such as national identity card applications, replacement of lost identity cards, birth certificates, death certificates and other government documents,” added Kyoni.
He noted that many residents had been unable to obtain or replace crucial documents due to the high cost of travelling to government offices, adding that the outreach programme had removed that burden by bringing services directly to the people.
“The County Government is committed to ensuring every resident, regardless of where they live, can conveniently access government services instead of citizens travelling to government offices,” he said.
Kyoni also revealed that the county plans to work closely with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to encourage residents receiving new national identity cards to register as voters once they collect the documents.
The County Executive said the collaboration would further strengthen civic participation by enabling more eligible residents to exercise their democratic right to vote in future elections.
Speaking at the same event, Kambu Sub county Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Teresia Mburu lauded the partnership between the national government, the county government and the Makueni Huduma Centre saying it had enhanced access to vital public services in remote areas.
Consequently, Mburu urged the residents to take advantage of the programme and register for IDs to avoid delays in acquiring the vital document.
“I urge the eligible residents to take advantage of both the mobile registration exercise and the existing registration offices within the sub county instead of delaying applying for the documents,” she observed.
The DCC called for continued collaboration between government agencies and the public to ensure that no resident is left behind in accessing essential services.
“The residents are now accessing with ease crucial government services that would ordinarily require costly trips to Wote, Kibwezi or Kambu towns,” she added.
On his part, Thange Ward Member of County Assembly (MCA), Eric Katumo described the exercise as a clear demonstration of effective collaboration between counties and the national government.
He said the outreach had transformed the lives of many residents, citing cases of two elderly women aged 88 and 73 who had never acquired national identity cards since birth, but had now applied successfully for the documents during the exercise.
Katumo said the duo had expressed immense joy after finally being recognised as true Kenyan citizens through registration, adding that they expect to receive the documents within a month.
The second phase of the Huduma Mashinani programme is expected to continue across all wards in Makueni County, as part of efforts to expand access to government services and ensure every resident is reached.
By Patrick Nyakundi
