City Hall Annexe gets facelift after decades in bid to end corruption
The Nairobi City Hall Annexe, which houses a number of county offices critical to day-to-day services, has been renovated for the first time since 1982.
Governor Johnson Sakaja officially opened the revamped customer service centre, assuring residents that anyone seeking county services will be served, adding that all staff will be trained to use the new system that has been installed.
“The County will be conducting comprehensive customer service training for all staff over the next few months. I urge the customer service team to ensure that the right people are manning the desks and that all staff are registered and issued with access cards to the centre so that they can perform their duties efficiently,” said Governor Sakaja.
The annexe, which is a one-stop shop for all services, now has the latest technology, including a changing and breastfeeding area for mothers.
Access to the building has also been improved to ensure that people living with disabilities can access county government services without discrimination.
“With regard to people living with disabilities and the elderly, my government will ensure that they are given priority in treatment and services without discrimination.”
Briefing the media on the renovation, the county’s Chief Officer for Public Participation, Citizen Engagement and Customer Service, Ms Lydiah Wambui Maitha, said the county spent Sh100 million on the exercise, which saw six floors renovated.
She says that from now on, clients seeking services will be served in order, ending the confusion that used to be witnessed where clients would move from one floor to another without a clear description of the offices of certain county officials.
“This was putting a lot of strain on our elevator, which was one of the reasons it kept breaking down. We are changing the whole business of service delivery.”
The chief officer says the new changes will weed out cartels that have been soliciting money from innocent residents seeking services at county offices, promising them a speedy resolution to their problems, but ending up in vain.
“There is a lot of soliciting, a lot of corruption where people come in and pull out licences, these are customers of Nairobi who want to pay their rents, their fees legitimately, but we have brokers in between who come and collect the customers outside and promise them for services,” Ms Maitha said.
With the new customer service desk, no one will enter the building unnoticed and people will receive services according to the time they come in.
“We are assuring our customers that they will be served, they will get fare service, they will be served with a smile and whatever information they are looking for, they will find it.”
The second phase is expected to start next year, with the county committed to improving service delivery to its taxpayers.