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Kenyans may soon have to dig deeper into their pockets as the government now plans to introduce a fee for services at Huduma centres.
Public Service, Performance, and Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria on Monday said that the fee will go towards the facilitation of 52 Huduma centres across the country.
Explaining further, Kuria said through the fees, Huduma centres will be able to generate their own revenues which will ease pressure on the exchequer.
” For so long you(Kenyans) have been enjoying these services without paying. Now there is no more free lunch, you have to pay for it. We will introduce a fee for government service to support our e-commerce because Huduma Centre will be the backbone for e-commerce,” he said.
Kuria was speaking during the official takeover of the State Department of Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management from Gender CS Aisha Jumwa.
The CS had been serving in the Trade docket for 11 months until the recent Cabinet reshuffle by President William Ruto which saw him moved to the Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management ministry.
Some of the services that will come at a cost in Huduma centres include the renewal of driver’s licences, duplicate national identity cards, and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Others include National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) registration and claims, HELB – Student Loan Application and Repayments, Registration of Welfare Groups, issuance of police abstracts, single business permit and stamp duty assessment among others.
The Huduma Kenya programme was created to facilitate the provision of a wide array of government services in a single unit dubbed Huduma Centres.
For this reason, Huduma Kenya merges numerous related public services within one location, possibly on the same floor so that Kenyans can easily access them.
The first Huduma Center Nairobi was launched in 2013 by former President Uhuru Kenyatta alongside then Deputy William Ruto at the Teleposta Building in Nairobi. BY MPASHO NEWS