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Nairobians fail to appreciate Huduma Center concept

By ABDI DIKA January 11th, 2014 2 min read

Residents of Nairobi’s suburbs have expressed ignorance and little appreciation of the newly launched Huduma Centre. The spot check conducted in Dagoretti,  Rongai, Califonia and Embakasi reveals that majority of the residents are yet to visit the facility while a huge proportion admitted not knowing about its existence.

Located at General Post Office’s ground floor, Huduma Centre is a one-stop shop for accessing Government services and was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta last November in a move widely anticipated to stem rampant corruption.

Thanks to the watershed development that will soon be rolled to other counties, Nairobians and other Kenyans are able to access  National Hospital Insurance Fund, National Social Security Fund application forms and documents, student loan applications, repayment forms and even  to report corruption.

Few residents, however, showed familiarity with the new service and reported to have accessed some vital documents. Catherine Kang’ethe from Dagoretti praised the officers at the department for their efficacy in attending to customers.

“It is my first time here and I can say the service is superb and extremely fast. I could not imagine processing an NHIF card could be so quick. This is a new beginning,” she said.

“The officers are very professional and their customer service is apt,” added Kang’ethe who is also a Communications Intern at the Ministry of ICT.

Echoing her sentiments, Mary Okalo, a Senior Librarian at the Ministry of ICT and a resident of Ongata Rongai, stated that the service is quick while the officers are very friendly.

“I had gone to enquire about NHIF and was amazed at the caliber of professionalism of the attendants,” Okalo told this writer, in an interview at her office.

Grace Karagi, Cersidy Lumumba and Anne Nasumba of Ongata Rongai, Carlifonia and Embakasi respectively admitted knowing about services at the centre but never visited the facility while Diana Nyambura from Redhill estate, at the outskirts of Nairobi said she did not know about the new Huduma Centre.