Government issues notice on IDs, birth certificates and driving licenses

The government has revealed that more than 190,000 national IDs remain uncollected across the country.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi pointed out that in Thika Huduma Centre alone, over 2,800 birth certificates, more than 10,000 national IDs, and over 6,000 driving licenses are still waiting to be collected by their rightful owners.

Muturi, who toured the centre on Wednesday, expressed concern over the large backlog of unclaimed documents and urged Kenyans to take immediate action by visiting their nearest Huduma Centre.

"We have over 190,000 uncollected national IDs nationwide, and in Thika, thousands of important documents are still unclaimed,” he said.

He further highlighted the government's commitment to improving accessibility to essential services, noting that there are currently 57 Huduma Centres across the country.

"We are working towards establishing Huduma Centres in every constituency so that no one has to travel far to access these services,” Muturi said.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi at the launch of Huduma Kenya Customer Service Week in Nairobi on October 7, 2024. (Photo: Ministry of Public Service)

The CS praised the ongoing efforts by Members of Parliament to support this initiative and urged Kenyans to make use of the available centres to collect their documents promptly.

Earlier this month, Muturi announced that plans are underway to establish 290 sub-county Huduma Centres nationwide.

He acknowledged that some government services are still unavailable in many Huduma Centres.

He noted that Kenyans are forced to travel long distances to access these services, citing the example of National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) services.

"Our goal is to ensure that government services are accessible to all Kenyans, regardless of where they live. The expansion of Huduma Centres to the sub-county level will bring services closer to the people," Muturi explained.

He also urged ministries, departments, agencies, and county governments to make use of the Huduma Kenya platform to provide services more efficiently.

"To embody the one-stop-Shop concept, I urge all ministries, departments, agencies, and counties to deploy services across the Huduma Centres to ensure equitable and seamless service delivery to citizens," Muturi said.