The government has been forced to issue a statement to quell a spate of criticism from Kenyans who on Monday, December 2, lamented poor services at Huduma Centres.
This came after one Kenyan took to X, formerly Twitter, to allege that he was asked for a bribe to speed up the processing of a certificate of good conduct.
“I’m at a Huduma Centre to apply for a certificate of good conduct,” the user said, “The officer tells me it will take two to three months. I kept quiet. He goes on and says ‘Pay me Ksh1,000 I’ll process it for you right now’.”
His testimony instantly attracted a string of criticism from other Kenyans, prompting a direct response from Huduma Centre, who enquired about details of the department of the alleged rogue officer asking for bribes.
Kenyans accessing public services at Huduma Centre
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Huduma Centre
“We would like to sincerely apologize for any distress or inconvenience caused by the situation you’ve described. We take allegations of misconduct and corruption very seriously, and we deeply regret that your experience was marred by such an issue,” a statement from Huduma Centre read.
“Please rest assured that we are committed to addressing the matter with the utmost urgency and transparency. To better assist in resolving the issue, could you kindly clarify which office or department requested the bribe? This will help us investigate the situation thoroughly and ensure that appropriate steps are taken to prevent any recurrence “
Further, the Huduma Centre clarified that the turnaround for processing a certificate of good conduct is two to three weeks after the fingerprint capture.
The latest controversy surrounding government services came just days after President William Ruto gave thirty government institutions one week to join E-Citizen, warning of changes in leadership if they failed to comply.
President Ruto has been intent on seeing all government services onboarded onto the platform to ensure transparency in revenue collection.
Some of the institutions listed included Kenya Power, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), and the Kenya Ports Authority.
As far as a Certificate of Good Conduct is concerned, however, applicants are still required to appear in person to have fingerprints recorded. This loophole provides an avenue for incidents of corruption and bribery.
Applicants who reside in the city are in particular advised to visit Huduma Centres to avoid long queues at the headquarters.
Typically, while applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct, one is required to fill out forms on the e-citizen platform, select the mode of payment, pay and download two copies of their invoice before presenting a copy of the C24 and invoices with an original National ID to the DCI for fingerprint recording and processing.
A photo of Kenyan ID cards ready for collection at Huduma Center.
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Immigration and Citizen Services