By MKT Reporter
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has hailed the remarkable growth of Huduma Centers across the country, a decade after she pioneered the transformative concept as Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning.
Governor Waiguru, who hosted Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen during Jukwaa La Usalama Kirinayaga Chapter tour, accompanied him to the Kerugoya Huduma Center where he launched a rapid registration exercise for birth certificates and national identity cards. The exercise will ensure IDs are issued within three days of application, a development Waiguru praised as a major win for the youth.
“We had a big concern with the turnover time it was taking to get National IDs for our youth but we are very thankful for the additional machines you have brought here today,” Waiguru said.
She reminded the gathering that Huduma Centers were her brainchild, initiated in 2014 under the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. Waiguru piloted the first center at Nairobi’s GPO before the model was rolled out across the nation. “This initiative has since become a transformative model for delivering government services efficiently and closer to the people. We now look forward to further decentralization of Huduma Centers to all subcounty levels,” she said, to applause from residents and local leaders.
From a single pilot, Huduma Centers have expanded to 59 across the 47 counties, with Nairobi hosting five. By 2024, they were serving nearly 28,000 walk-in customers daily through counters, call centers and digital platforms. The one-stop shops provide a wide range of services under one roof, including birth and death certificates, ID cards, NHIF, NSSF, KRA, and business registrations, greatly reducing queues and bureaucratic delays.
The innovation earned Waiguru international acclaim, winning the 2015 United Nations Public Service Award after recognition by the African Association of Public Administration and Management for improving efficiency in public service delivery. Huduma remains a flagship programme under Kenya’s Vision 2030.
Governor Waiguru urged CS Murkomen to expand Huduma Centers to the sub-county level to ease access for rural residents. “The Huduma Kenya programme has already proven its value, but to deepen its impact, we need to take it closer to the people at the grassroots. Expanding these services to sub-counties would be a game-changer for wananchi,” she noted.
Now at the county level, Waiguru has replicated the Huduma model in Kirinyaga by setting up a Huduma-style service desk at the county headquarters. Located on the ground floor, the centre consolidates devolved services and includes targeted facilitation for persons with disabilities, eliminating the traditional office-to-office runaround.
The visit underscored the growing collaboration between the national and county governments in enhancing service delivery, while also reaffirming Waiguru’s legacy as a reform-driven leader whose innovation continues to shape governance in Kenya.
Elizabeth Angira