Members of Parliament have demanded answers on e-Citizen operations after it emerged that a private company is still running the platform two years after the government announced that it has taken over full control.
The National Assembly Committee on Finance and National Planning was stunned on Thursday after officials from the National Treasury told them that a private vendor was contracted to run the platform despite winning a court case on the ownership of the service.
Director-General of accounting services at National Treasury Benard Ndung’u told the committee that despite the system being fully owned by the government, vendors are still running e-Citizen as the government puts in place a system to take over full operations.
“The vendors handed over the system to the government after a court case but the vendors have been retained on contract to keep offering services as the government puts in place the system,” Mr Ndung’u said.
The lawmakers were however shocked, questioning why such a serious platform where Kenyans pay billions of shillings daily is still in the hands of vendors and not fully operated by the government.
The committee chairman Kimani Kuria wondered what system the government lacks that makes it put the platform to be run by vendors on contract for three years.
“Why are we saying that the system has been handed over to the government but it’s still being run by vendors? asked Mr Kuria.
Turkana South John Ariko asked about the contents of the contract with the vendors for running the e-Citizen platform.
“What is the arrangement under this contract and how much is the vendor retaining for offering the service? asked Mr Ariko.
Mr Ndung’u however assured MPs that after the handover, all the monies collected under the platform now come to government accounts.
“The convenience fee now comes to the government and we use it to service the contract,” Mr Ndung’u said.
The lawmakers were also shocked to learn that the Immigration and Citizens Services is the custodian of the contract and not the National Treasury.
Mr Kuria asked treasury officials why the document is domiciled at immigration yet it’s the national treasury that is in charge of the collection of revenue.
“The collection of revenue is the responsibility of the National Treasury. Why was this agreement then domiciled at the immigration department? He asked.
Mr Ndung’u assured MPs that the National Treasury has a unit that follows how every shilling collected at the platform is used.
Kigumo MP Joseph Munyoro said since the National Treasury has no control of the system, it means they also have no control of the amounts collected.
The committee now wants the National Treasury and the immigration service department to present the contract on the management of the E-Citizen platform next week.
“We are assigning a day next week so that we can have a full engagement on that agreement,” Mr Kuria said.
President Ruto ordered the closure of thousands of paybill numbers for government ministries, departments and agencies used to collect fees for services.
Government officials say the move has borne fruit leading to sharp increase in daily revenue collection through e-Citizen due to the increased oversight over collected revenue.
