5,000 IDs yet to be collected from Kisumu Huduma centre

Over 5,000 national identification cards remain uncollected at the Kisumu Huduma centre, one year after application.

The centre’s manager Nicholas Kijuba has expressed concern over the high number of Kisumu residents who are reluctant to pick their IDs.

“We make efforts to trace the owners and have them come to collect their IDs but often we fail,” Mr Kijuba said Tuesday.

“A week after processing the documents, we usually text them to come and collect their IDs. Some of them respond and collect them while others totally ignore,” Mr Kijuba added.

USE CHIEFS

He said the Huduma centre makes use of chiefs and assistant chiefs to distribute the cards to the owners following a directive from Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

Mr Kijuba explained that efforts to explore other avenues to reach applicants had hit a dead end.

National IDs are required in the ongoing Huduma Namba registration.

Lack of the document has been cited as one of the reasons why many Kenyans have not yet registered for the Huduma Namba.

In an interview with Nation Tuesday, the Kisumu Huduma centre manager said that occasionally, they produce a list of the piled IDs and take them to sub-counties, but they are still not picked up since the owners prefer collecting them from the application point.

"We have realised that when we take the IDs to the various wards or sub-counties, it becomes a complication on our end because when clients come they complain about it," added Mr Kijuba.

PHOTOCOPIES

He noted that the increasing use of photocopies while acquiring government services could have influenced majority of applicants not to pick IDs.

“I suggest that Kenyans should be required to display their original IDs as they submit the photocopies while seeking government services. This will help reduce the number of IDs piled up in Huduma centres,” Mr kijuba added.

But he noted that since the commencement of the Huduma Namba registration, the collection of IDs has slightly improved.

The centre has issued over 2,000 IDs to their owners in a span of a month but still, most of the IDs remain uncollected.

Uncollected IDs have been an issue of concern all over the country for the past few years.

Many Huduma centres have many uncollected IDs.

Huduma centres are aimed at making services easily available to all Kenyans.

However, it seems that Kenyans are reluctant to fully exploit the opportunity.