The Ministry of Devolution and Planning on Wednesday launched the Huduma Smart Card that citizens will use to pay for any state services and perform any other transactions with the government.
Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru said that the Huduma Card will be distributed for free at any Huduma Centre in the country citing that the government will also be disbursing funds using the card.
"Uwezo Fund beneficiaries, Youth and Women Funds disbursements, National Youth Service, Social welfare government cash transfers to families, government food subsidies, hunger safety net cash transfers and cash transfers to orphaned children will be disbursed through the cards,"Ms Waiguru announced during the launch.
The Huduma Card, a product of Master Card will also be connected to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) database in order to establish effortless tax payments, easy flow of PIN numbers and flawless tax payments.
Selected financial institutions including the Commercial Bank of Africa, KCB, Equity Bank, and Diamond Trust Bank will take up the costs of ensuring the project goes through and also distribute the Card.
Kenyans using the card will automatically access other significant government services such as National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) which will ensure that every citizen is covered.
This is part of the Kenyan government's ambition to reduce the exchange of liquid money in a bid to increase accountability and efficiency.
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