Travizory Security denies holding e-Visa billions in Switzerland

Swiss-based firm Travizory Border Security SA has denied holding any funds belonging to the Kenyan government in Switzerland.

This follows reports that billions of shillings collected by the government from the e-visa system, introduced last year by President William Ruto’s administration to ease travel and support tourism growtyh, were first wired into a Swiss bank account.

The firm was awarded the contract to develop the Electronic Travel Authorization Services (eTA) system.

Travizory is a technology provider of next-generation digital border security solutions with a global operation.

In a statement seen by the Star yesterday, the firm said it is a trusted partner to governments worldwide, and its team has extensive experience developing and deploying border security systems.

“Over the past week, several misleading public statements and media reports have been made regarding Travizory’s business dealings with the Government of Kenya. To safeguard Travizory’s reputation and curtail the further spread of misinformation, we are compelled to make the following clarifications: Travizory does not hold any funds belonging to the government of Kenya in Switzerland or elsewhere,” the company said.

All funds collected by Travizory, apart from revenues for services lawfully rendered, have been duly remitted to the Kenyan government, management said.

“Travizory is committed to supporting the secure and efficient management of borders worldwide and reaffirms its commitment to the rule of law and its contractual obligation of confidentiality. Travizory shall continue to engage constructively and responsibly in resolving any outstanding matters with the government of Kenya,” it said.

The State Department for Immigration introduced the eTA system to advance security screening of travelers before they arrive in the country.

The move was also part of President Ruto’s efforts to make Kenya visa-free, especially for Africa.

From August 2024 when the contract was signed to February 25 this year, Travizory is reported to had collected $50,568,810 (about Sh6.5 billion) on behalf of the Kenyan government.

From this amount, the firm would pocket Sh1.5 billion for their services. The revenue is from 1,596,799 eTAs that had successfully been applied for.

Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura on Monday said the decision to channel the money into Swiss accounts was part of the system’s pilot phase, implemented in partnership with the foreign firm.

The company has also distanced itself from claims that it intended to sue the government for infringement of its intellectual property rights and unprocedurally termination of their engagements, as it moves to replicate and host a new system on the e-Citizen platform with Pesaflow as the new payment processor.

“They [Swiss firm] have written a demand letter threatening to move to the London Court of International Arbitration or the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes,” a highly placed source within government had told the Star earlier.

Appearing before Parliament early this month, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen disclosed that the Swiss firm was being paid per transaction.

For instance, for the standard eTA application that costs $30 (Sh3,885), the vendor was charging $9.5 (Sh1,230) while for the United States multiple eTA, which costs $160 (Sh20,723 ), the service provider was paid $16 (Sh2,072 ).

Murkomen termed said the system was a “pilot project”.

“This was a pilot project as the State Department explored ways of localisation of the eTA solution. On 9th March 2025, the eCitizen eTA solution was rolled out,” Murkomen said, responding to questions raised by Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka.

Travizory had earlier indicated it made significant investments into the system with anticipation that they would recoup their investments through long-term engagements with the government of Kenya.

The eTA system which underwent an upgrade about a month ago is said to have eased travel to Kenya, boosting international tourist arrivals that hit a record 2.4 million last year based on data by the Tourism Research Institute released by the Tourism Ministry in February.