Civil Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has announced that the government will soon introduce fees for services offered at Huduma centers across the country. This as the SC also issued a warning shot to 900,000 civil servants, saying that business will not continue as usual and they must work or resign because the days of laziness are over.
Speaking on Monday after formally taking over from his counterpart Aisha Jumwa, Mr Kuria said fees would be charged to government and private sector services.
However, he did not reveal the amount of these fees.
“My first objective in this business is to ensure that Huduma Centers do not depend on Treasury money but that we generate our own income. You have been enjoying this service for so long without paying for it. From now on, there will be no more free lunch. You have to pay for it,” Mr Kuria said.
The centers record around 60,000 transactions daily.
The CS explained that President William Ruto challenged his ministry on the issue of sustainability of the Huduma centers by ensuring that they were not solely dependent on the Treasury.
Among the services expected to be affected are renewal of driving licenses, 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 repayment, welfare group registration, issuance of policy summaries, licensing of single exploitation and the assessment of stamp duties, among others.
The former Commerce CS said he also intends to expand the reach of Huduma centers in the country by ensuring that there is a Huduma center in each of the 893 Postal Corporation offices in the country .
“We will talk to the Kenya Postal Corporation to ensure that wherever there is a post office, there is a Huduma center because Kenyans have shown that they have confidence in the centers,” he said .
