National Treasury taking its role in e-Citizen, PS Kiptoo says

The Principal Secretary for the National Treasury, Chris Kiptoo. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

The National Treasury is taking its role of managing the Government digital payment platform, e-citizen, as the entity in charge of revenue collection.

National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo Tuesday told the National Assembly Committee on Finance that the Auditor-General had raised issues of ownership for e-citizen and whether the department has sight on what happens therein.

In response to the audit, Kiptoo said they now have an advanced revenue assurance system which will help the department see whatever is being collected in e-citizen service.

“We are going to be taking our role as the entity in charge responsible for revenue collection. We will go through the discussions with the e-citizen department currently named in the contract to see how to split the functions between revenue collection and the services. This is something that is going on and likely to have less questions being asked because we have addressed most of them,” the PS said.

Kiptoo made the remarks when he appeared before the Finance committee, chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani to present the budget monitoring review for government agencies.

He also told the committee that the e-citizen regulations are before Parliament and the Delegated Legislation committee has already approved it, with National Treasury given the responsibility to be in charge of the platform.

The department has previously insisted that the platform is fully government-run, and said the regulations are a key step in clarifying the legal status of a system that processes billions in public revenue.

“We had appeared before another committee of Parliament on issues raised by the Auditor General’s report. The report had raised issues around ownership and whether we have sight of what goes on as National Treasury. In response to that audit report, we have addressed issues – we have a revenue assurance system that is very advanced and once it is ready, it will help and assure us whatever is collected in the e-citizen services is something we are sure about as National Treasury,” the PS explained.

In August, the National Assembly Committee on Delegated Legislation, chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga (Ainabkoi) reviewed the proposed Public Finance Management (eCitizen System Management) Regulations, 2026.

The regulations, developed under the Public Finance Management Act, are designed to place the eCitizen digital payment platform firmly under the legal control of the National Treasury, ensuring the system is owned, controlled, hosted, administered, and maintained by government, and finally resolving years of public debate over its ownership.

The regulations establish a Steering Committee and a Technical Committee to run the platform and formalise “access fees” (formerly convenience fees) to fund its operation. National government agencies must onboard within 12 months; county governments can join voluntarily, with seats reserved for the Council of Governors on the Steering Committee to encourage buy-in.

Treasury officials told the Committee that although a private vendor built the system, it was fully handed over to government in 2023 and is now run internally by the Treasury.

Earlier in the year, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Tindi Mwale raised questions over alleged diversion of billions of shillings from eCitizen.

Mwale made the remarks in response to Auditor-General’s special audit report on the eCitizen, which showed that Sh9.4 billion was irregularly funneled from the platform and that funds were being diverted and paid to private entities.

The Auditor-General’s report also raised concerns that the government does not have full control of the platform, relying instead on a vendor.

“Noting that the majority of government services are provided through the platform, control by the vendor creates a single point of failure,” the report, tabled in the House on April 2, 2025, stated in part.

However, during the session, Kiptoo assured the Committee that the platform is wholly owned by the government under a handover agreement signed in January 2023.

He explained that he, together with his counterparts from the State Department of ICT and the State Department of Immigration, signed the agreement.

“As per the agreement, the vendor agreed to completely and unconditionally hand over  the eCitizen platform to the Government of Kenya,” said PS Kiptoo.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu recommended sweeping reforms to strengthen governance, financial accountability and operational efficiency of the Government's eCitizen digital payment platform.

In an audit report on the platform, Gathungu outlined a series of measures that the government should implement to improve oversight, reduce reliance on vendors, and enhance transparency in revenue collection.

A key recommendation in the report is that Webmasters Kenya Ltd should unconditionally hand over control of the eCitizen platform to the government, in line with provisions of the handover agreement.

The Auditor-General also urged the government to introduce a robust change management process requiring all system modifications to be documented, reviewed and approved by authorized personnel.

"To reduce over-reliance on external vendors, the report recommends that the government build internal technical capacity by training staff in system administration, operations and maintenance," Gathungu stated.

The report also recommended that the National Treasury establish a comprehensive legal framework to govern the eCitizen platform.

"The framework should address key issues, including data protection, information security standards, and compliance requirements," the report read in part.

To improve coordination among institutions managing the platform, the Auditor-General also proposed the creation of an oversight body or steering committee.