Hundreds of Kenyans Stranded as Internet System at Huduma Centres Fail over Sh85 Million Unpaid Bill

Hundreds of Kenyans were on Thursday stranded at all Huduma Centres across the country following a network outage.

This was after suppliers cut off their services due to nonpayment of internet bills by the government, making all ICT related services at the centres unavailable.

“What is unavailable is ICT services which are offered by Safaricom and Telkom Kenya who halted their services because we are yet to pay outstanding bills of around Sh85 million from the previous financial year,” Public Service Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia said, but assured the services would be restored by the end of the day.

Huduma Centre was launched in 2013 by President Kenyatta in a bid to improve delivery of government services to Kenyans.

Key services offered at Huduma Centres include issuance and replacement of ID cards, renewal of drivers' licences, registration of self-help groups, CBOs and welfare societies, search and registration of business names, student Helb loan application and many others.

In a statement to the press on Thursday evening, Huduma Centre Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dennis Mutuku said the services had been restored.

“Further to a network downtime in all Huduma Centres countrywide today, we are pleased to inform our customers that the network has since been restored and we have resumed smooth service delivery,” read a statement from Huduma Centre CEO Dennis Mutuku.

“We apologise for the downtime and endeavor to offer services to our customers as usual.”