Members from the National Assembly Committee on Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers have begun the process of decentralising labour migration services.
On Tuesday, April 22, the MPs met with the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) over a proposal that seeks to establish a one-stop shop for labour migration services into the Huduma Centre framework.
According to the MPs, the proposal aims to enhance public service delivery by making government services more efficient, accessible, and convenient for all Kenyans.
The MPs plan to ensure its fruition will involve meeting key stakeholders and conducting a series of engagements to gather feedback and insights from relevant sectors.
This will include visiting the only one-stop shop centre for labour migrants at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to benchmark its operations.
Newly appointed Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku proposed that passport application services be moved to Huduma Centres, a move that could see more Kenyans access the service.
CS Ruku made the remarks when he visited Huduma centres in Thika and Kiambu, asserting that the move would increase accessibility, reduce congestion, and speed up processing times of the crucial travel document.
According to Ruku, it could make it easier for Kenyans to obtain passports without visiting overstretched immigration offices like Nyayo House.
''There is one service which most of the Kenyans come to the Huduma Centres to ask if it is offered, and we will see how we can synchronise with the Ministry of Immigration to ensure passport registration can be processed from the Huduma Centres,'' Ruku stated.
Currently, there are only nine passport issuing centres across the country, located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Embu, Kisii, Bungoma, and Kericho counties.
If the process is decentralised, Kenyans will enjoy the services in the current 58 Huduma centres spread across all the 47 counties.
This comes as the labour ministry continues to advocate for kazi majuu or labour export, collaborating with other countries to send Kenyans in masses to work both skilled and unskilled jobs in Qatar, Canada, Australia and even Europe.
