Huduma Centres are operating illegally and risk closure, warn MPs
National
By
Josphat Thiong’o
| Oct 15, 2026
Huduma Kenya centres across the country have been operating illegally since inception 14 years ago, a National Assembly committee has said.
MPs were told yesterday that the 59 centres, a flagship project of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, have operated without a legal policy framework, contrary to the law.
It also emerged that the facilities, hailed as a game changer in service delivery, risk abolition if anyone takes the matter to court.
The revelation was made during a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee, which was interrogating the report of the 2023/2024 Auditor General report in relation to the accounts of the State Department of Public Service.
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The report notes that the Huduma Kenya Secretariat has no policy and legislative framework for its existence as required by the gazette notice No 2177.
“In addition, minutes of the meetings by the Service Delivery Summit, which is meant to meet twice a year, and the Technical Committee were not provided for audit review. In the circumstances, legality of the Huduma Kenya Secretariat operations could not be confirmed,” reads the report.
The MPs sought to understand why corrective measures had not been implemented.
Principal Secretary Jane Imbunya told the committee that her department had formulated a policy and a Bill to anchor the centres operations in law.
The One Stop Shop Government Services Policy, 2026 and the One Stop Shop Government Services Bill, 2026 are awaiting approval by the Cabinet.
The lawmakers also heard that the PS, through a memo dated February 5, constituted an interdepartmental committee to review the draft policy and the Bill. Upon completion of its assignment, the committee submitted the revised drafts to the PS to facilitate the next stages.
“The stakeholder consultation and public participation process was concluded on May 13. The comments and submissions received have since been compiled and are currently awaiting validation before incorporation into the final policy and Bill for onward processing and approval,” added the PS.
As for the meeting minutes, MPs were shocked to learn that the last time the summit held a meeting on the operation of the Huduma Centre was in 2014 thus there were no minutes to present.
“Just to be clear, the Huduma Kenya Service is not an independent body and does not even have its own authorized officer. It is a programme within the State Department. That is why we are working to give it autonomy through the Bill,” added the PS.
The committee chairperson, Tindi Mwale, directed that the process be fast-tracked.