This Is What We Offer - Kiambu Huduma Centre Official.

Due to great public demand, Thika Town Today visited The Kiambu Branch of the Huduma Centre located at the Thika West DC’s office just opposite Thika Sub-County Stadium. The visit was aimed at acquainting ourselves with the services that are in offer so that we could furnish our audience with the same knowledge.

This is in turn will enable Thika residents and Kiambu people in general, to take advantage of this great facility.

Huduma Kenya is a ‘one stop shop’ that involves amalgamating related services within one building effectively making it possible for service seekers to access it conveniently.   Through this platform, citizens can now access integrated public via an enhanced serviced delivery that is aimed at eradicating all graft loopholes.

The choice of Thika Town as the host center came at the right time considering that Thika is the second busiest industrial town after Nairobi City, where a lot of businesses
flourished. As a hub where many people carried out businesses and with its central locality, there was no better place to launch this facility.

When it opened its doors for the public on the 25^th November 2015, the centres had 20 counters in operation. Currently, it has more than doubled that figure, serving an average of 600 people on a daily basis.

According to the Centre Manager Madam Josephine Mwengi, the number of people seeking their services is increasing by the day, with Mondays to Thursdays being the busiest.

She also noted that the National Registration Bureau, especially the Duplicate ID (ID replacement) counter being the busiest, a clear indication that so many people were losing their identity cards in the area.

Among the services they were currently offering included;  

1.       Issuance of Duplicate National Identity Card

2.       Civil Registration (Birth Certificates)

3.       IEBC voter registration and transfer of polling centres

4.       Acquisition of Kenya Police Abstracts 

5.       Government procurements desk

6.       Renewal of Drivers licenses and Status check

7.       Search and Registration of Business Names 

8.       Registration of Welfare Groups 

9.       General K.P.L.C. services and payment of bills.

10.   NHIF Member Registration, Statements and accredited Institutions

11.   NSSF Registration, member Statements and Benefits 

12.   Student Loan Application and Repayment Services – HELB 

13.   Acquisition of the C.I.D. Certificate of Good Conduct

14.   Health Nutrition Services, B.M.I. Services, Blood Sugar and First Aid

15.   N.T.S.A. General Services

16.   Pension services

17.   Status of Pension Claims 

18.   Anti-Corruption (Reporting Corruption) – EACC 

19.   EACC Clearance Certificate 

20.   Special Needs Department

21.   Posta pay

22.   PPOA Filing reviews and/or addressing complaints in procurement and disposal 

23.   Kenya Revenue Authority General Services

24.   Kiambu County Government (Civic Education on Public Bills & Payments)

However, the Centre had desks for the following departments though the mother ministries had not yet sent personnel to man them;

1.       Ministry of Lands

2.       Immigration Department

3.       Office of the Ombudsman

4.       Kenya National Human Rights Commission.

Mwengi called on more people to use their services since majority of them were free, fast and very friendly. Those services that required payments had their payment model enhanced through Posta Pay which had their counter within the centre.

It was only for the KPLC and the NTSA that had an M-PESA Paybill number to clear their bills.

Thika being an industrial and business hub, she encouraged the residents to register their new businesses from the centre. To search a Business name one only needed to have an option of three names @ sh.100 per name and within an hour, they would have their results ready.

Business Name Registration cost sh. 100.

When asked about the challenges they encountered in the centre, Mwengi that apart from occasional systems breakdown and at times being overwhelmed by the people’s turn out, the centre experienced minimal challenges.

She also sought the relevant authorities to seek ways to boost the staff morale through capacity building and motivation so as to avoid employee burnout and apathy.

Her centre had experienced only two cases of corruption allegations where two people (outsiders) were caught trying to solicit bribes to secure ID cards from clients. The two were arrested and aligned in court. There was also a complaint of a parent who had been asked to pay some cash so as to acquire a birth certificate.

Otherwise, she called on every person seeking their services to do it via the official systems so as to avoid exposing themselves to such fraudsters.