The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly has summoned National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo to answer queries on issues bedevilling the e-Citizen portal.
This is even as it emerged that funds collected through the platform may not be hitting Treasury accounts at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
Members of the PAC made the move while faulting the National Treasury for failing to implement the committee’s recommendations on the streamlining of the government’s online payment system to ensure efficiency and accountability of public funds.
The failure by the National Treasury to implement the watchdog committee’s recommendations has seen the audit issues on the platform’s weaknesses continue to recur in accounts of various State agencies as flagged in the reports of Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
The National Treasury building.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation
Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose, appearing before the PAC with regard to the accounts of the State Law Office for the 2022/23 financial year, had a hard time as he failed to disclose how much the State Law Office collects through the e-citizen portal from services rendered, such as the issuance of marriage certificates.
The failure by Mr Mose on account that he did not have records from the National Treasury on how much revenue the State Law Office collects through E-citizen and whether it gets banked at Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
“E-citizen does not give us a report on how much we generate,” said Mr Mose in reference to the amount the State Law Office generates through the platform, a response that saw PAC chairperson Tindi Mwale (Butere) direct that Dr Kiptoo appears before the committee to explain the matter.
“The PS must come and shed more light on this matter because it is an issue that affects government departments,” said Mr Mwale following concerns from members on the National Treasury’s failure to implement the PAC recommendations.
E-citizen, launched in 2014, is an initiative by the Ministry of Finance and is managed by the ICT Authority of Kenya (IDA).
The platform is the first-stop portal for government information and services, organized with public needs in mind.
It pioneered the concept of providing cross-agency, citizen-centric information and services, to help people complete their transactions conveniently with one government.
In its reports to the National Assembly on the audited accounts of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), PAC has been making several recommendations to the National Treasury regarding the E-citizen platform and the recurrence of audit issues on its administration.
The State’s e-Citizen payment platform.
“It is not clear whether the money collected through the E-citizen platform ends at the exchequer accounts,” said Mr Namwar.
Aldai MP Maryanne Kitany noted that the E-citizen platform has "serious problems" that require the intervention of the National Treasury.
“There are cases of billions of public funds being at the E-citizen. Its reporting mechanism is wanting,” said Ms Kitany as she demanded to know when the platform is domiciled.
According to Rarieda MP Dr Otiende Amollo, “it would be idle of us to treat this matter as routine.”
“The National treasury needed to have acted on this matter way back in 2017. There are so many queries on this E-citizen platform and all we want to do is issue a special letter to the National treasury to explain why it has not acted on the recommendations of PAC,” said Dr Amolo.
The audit report on the accounts of the State Law Office for the 2022/23 financial year that PAC is considering, notes that Sh116.83 million was realized from 15 of the 34 gazetted marriage centres with the amount collected from the 19 centres not recorded.
The auditor-general attributed this to the failure by the State Law Office to prepare and submit marriage fees periodical reports at the county and assistant county commissioners’ offices for lack of quarterly and consolidated reports on marriage fees as at June 30, 2023.
“In the circumstances, the existence of effective internal controls that ensure all revenues are collected and reported on in a timely manner could not be confirmed,” the audit report reads.
The State Law Office continues to use gazetted Deputy County Commissioners (DCCs) and the Assistant County Commissioners (ACCs) to perform and register civil marriages.
This is notwithstanding that section 50 of the Marriage Act mandates the Cabinet Secretary in charge to appoint Registrar of Marriages at the national and county levels, who shall perform and register civil marriages and issue marriage certificates for all registered marriages.
Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
PAC has been clear about the need to streamline the government payment platform to ensure proper oversight of funds collected through the platform and improving the overall efficiency and transparency of the system.
The PAC recommendations also aimed to ensure that E-citizen is a secure and efficient platform for delivering public services and managing public finances prudently.
The PAC recommendations are part of a “larger” effort to modernize government operations and enhance public service delivery through technology.
