Transformation in Public Service Delivery in Kenya: A Case of Huduma Kenya Centres
- November 1, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: History, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Transformation in Public Service Delivery in Kenya: A Case of Huduma Kenya Centres
Felistus Kinyanjui and Irene Waithaka
Department of History, Kenyatta University, P.O Box 43844, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract:- Huduma is a Kiswahili word for service, as such it has been appropriately been adopted to represent the government’s readiness to avail itself in terms of service to the citizens in the most easily accessible way through use of technology to reach all corners of the republic. The Huduma Kenya programme aims to transform Public Service Delivery by providing citizens access to various Public Services and information from One-Stop-Shop citizen centered service centres and through integrated technology platforms. Huduma centres operate from what were previously Kenya Post and Tele-communication offices located countrywide thus easing accessibility and affordability of public services. Huduma Kenya is an approach that is reforming service delivery in Kenya. It is interactive, integrated, vertical and horizontal as it brings on board to one stop services from different departments, ministries and agencies of both county and national governments. The huduma programme presents a shift in paradigm from the centralization to devolution and getting services closer to the clients, the citizens of Kenya. Institutional reform is emphatic on accountability, transparency and trust. It has received local and international awards to its attempt to transform public service delivery to a majority and satisfaction of many in Kenya and abroad. At a practical level the successes of huduma Kenya can be replicated across the globe as a means to achieve best practices in the public sector yet have an angle of PPE as is the case in Kenya.
Key words: huduma centre, one-stop-shop, transformation, accessibility, customer-satisfactory, affordability
I. INTRODUCTION
The e-Governance scenario in Africa has come a long way since computers were first introduced in the 1970s. The focus now is on extending the reach of governance to have a major impact on the people at large. E-governance is an important tool to enhance the quality of government services to citizens, to bring in more transparency, to reduce corruption and subjectivity, to reduce costs for citizens and to make government more accessible. Huduma Kenya programme is one among many initiatives to aimed at enhancing delivery of the otherwise considered cumbersome and complex bureaucracy. As such seeking some public service in Kenya has been a nightmare for a long time. Graft and ineptitude defined service delivery in the country.
