MPs summon Treasury PS over e-Citizen gaps

MPs have summoned Treasury PS Chris Kiptoo to explain allegations that monies collected through the eCitizen platform do not reach the ministry’s account at the Central Bank of Kenya.

National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee chairman Tindi Mwale (Butere), said the issue cuts across various state departments. 

He now wants Kiptoo to explain why they are yet to address the matter even after the oversight committee made a recommendation in its past reports. 

In its previous recommendations, PAC advised Treasury to streamline eCitizen’s efficiency. 

The matter resurfaced yesterday when the committee met solicitor general Shadrack Mose on the 2022/23 Auditor General’s report on the State Law Office. 

Mose could not disclose how much the State Law Office collects through the platform from the services it renders to Kenyans, including issuing marriage certificates. 

The solicitor general explained he did not have records from Treasury on how much revenue the agency collects through the electronic platform. 

“E-citizen does not give us a report,” Mose said. 

Dissatisfied with the response and the opaqueness of the system, Mwale directed that Kiptoo appear 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,” Mwale said. 

Turkana MP Joseph Namwar read mischief from those in authority, whom he claimed are intentionally abusing the platform. 

“It is not clear whether the money collected through the eCitizen platform ends at the Exchequer accounts,” Namwar said. 

Aldai MP MarianneKitany, while supporting the summoning of the PS, said the revelations point to serious problems of the government payment system. 

“There are cases of billions of public funds being at the eCitizen. Its reporting mechanism is wanting,” Kitany said.

She also demanded information on where the system is domiciled. 

According to Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo – a member of the Committee – the matter would have been sorted had Treasury implemented previous PAC recommendations. 

“The National Treasury needed to have acted on this matter way back in 2017. There are so many queries on this eCitizen 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,” Amolo said.

In the State Law Office for the 2022/23 financial year, Sh116.83 million was realised from 15 of the 34 gazetted marriage centres, while the amount collected from 19 centres was not recorded. 

The State Law Office continues to use gazetted Deputy County Commissioners (DCCs) and the Assistant County Commissioners (ACCs) to perform and register civil marriages. 

Auditor general Nancy Gathungu attributed this to the failure by the Office to prepare and submit periodical reports – as at June 30, 2023 – at the county and assistant county commissioners’ offices.

“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. 

Mose attributed the lack of the requisite data to persistent transfers of the DCCs and the ACCs. 

Instant Analysis