Contextualising Huduma Centres E-government Initiative in Kenyan Public Service Delivery

Abstract

E-government practices are universally acknowledged to promote service delivery to citizens. Earlier, public service delivery in Kenya was characterised by a slow pace of service delivery, corruption, and inefficient public service providers. This led the government to implement the Huduma Kenya Programme, comprising a one-stop e-government initiative that centralises public service provision under a single roof, using an integrated system approach. The one-stop-shop model is characterised by high demand for resources and various infrastructural requirements, which pose short- and long-term challenges for governments. This paper employs the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis methodology to evaluate the current status of Huduma centres in Kenya. An integrated literature review is used. This kind of review allows the integration of various contexts and discussions of the research topic. Hence, a manual search of purposively selected articles was carried out on various websites and databases, with the emphasis on the search terms: Huduma centres AND e-government SWOT analysis. The study randomly reviewed a total number of 37 articles. The study revealed that strengths and opportunities (such as political goodwill, e-government regulatory framework, capacity-building and improved systems interoperability) could enhance the development of Huduma e-government initiatives. Weaknesses and threats that need to be mitigated, include fragmented infrastructure, lack of adequate ICT skills, multiple systems integration complication, and improving cyber security. The SWOT analysis is expected to contribute to the constant improvement of the services offered by e-government initiatives.