Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru has urged the national government to expand Huduma Centers to the sub-county level to ease access of essential government services by rural communities.
Speaking at the Kerugoya Huduma Center during a rapid registration drive for birth certificates and national identity cards launched by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Waiguru praised the program as a major win for young people.
“The Huduma Kenya programme has already proven its value, but to deepen its impact, we need to take it closer to the grassroots. Expanding these services to sub-counties would be a game-changer for wananchi,” she said.
Waiguru, who pioneered the Huduma Kenya model in 2014 while serving as Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning, lauded its impact and transformation of government service delivery.
From a single pilot, the programme has grown to 59 centers countrywide, with Nairobi hosting five. By 2024, they were serving thousands of walk-in clients daily through physical counters, call centers, and digital platforms.
The one-stop shops provide a wide range of services under one roof, including registration of births and deaths, issuance of ID cards, Driving Licenses renewal, NHIF and NSSF services, KRA support, and business registrations, hence drastically reducing queues and bureaucratic delays.
“We had a major concern with the long turnaround time for National IDs. With additional machines and better systems, services have greatly improved. This initiative is transformative, but now we must decentralize it further,” Waiguru noted.
The innovation has earned both local and international acclaim, including the 2015 United Nations Public Service Award and recognition from the African Association of Public Administration and Management for efficiency in public service delivery.
Huduma Kenya remains a flagship programme under Kenya’s Vision 2030.
At the county level, Waiguru has replicated the model by establishing a Huduma-style service desk at the Kirinyaga county headquarters. The facility consolidates devolved services, provides targeted support for persons with disabilities, and eliminates the traditional office-to-office runaround.
By Mutai Kipngetich
