Taxpayer pain: Swiss firm declines to remit Sh927m e-visa collections

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu/FILE

A Swiss firm contracted to design and operate an electronic visa system has declined to remit almost Sh1 billion in collected fees to Kenyan government.

According to a new report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, the Swiss firm, Travizory Border Security SA, has not remitted Sh927 million.

The revelations will place the Immigration department under fresh scrutiny, as auditors say no effort has been made to secure the funds.

The dispute was first reported by the Star in April last year, following a fallout that led to the government failing to extend the contract.

Under the deal, billions of shillings collected through the e-visa system were first wired into a Swiss bank account instead of the Treasury-run Consolidated Fund.

This decision has now returned to haunt the government.

“In the circumstances, management was in breach of the law, and there is a risk of loss of the unremitted amounts,” Gathungu said.

Travizory had threatened not to remit the collected funds unless fully compensated for losses, including what it claims was an unprocedural termination of its services.

According to auditors, however, the last phase of the work, between January and March 2025, was executed without a valid contract.

It also emerged that there was no evidence that the accounting officer—the Principal Secretary—had made any effort to recover the funds.

The department is currently under PS Belio Kipsang. Kenya terminated the contract with Travizory Border Security SA in March 2025, triggering a lawsuit.

The e-visa collections are currently processed through eCitizen. The department had initially entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Travizory for three months. A contract was later signed covering 1 June to 31 December 2024, but it was not renewed.

“The company continued collecting fees between January 2025 and March 2025 without a valid contract,” Gathungu reported.

By the time of the audit, Sh927,489,739 had not been transferred to the Revenue Account at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). Public finance regulations require accounting officers to ensure prompt collection, proper accounting and safeguarding of all government revenue.

“Management was in breach of the law, and there is a risk of loss of the unremitted amounts,” the auditor warned.

Although management claimed to have held meetings to resolve the dispute, no documentary evidence was provided to support this assertion. As such, Gathungu said the status of the funds remains unclear.

She warned that the government is exposed to possible legal disputes and may face difficulties recovering the money.

This is particularly so given the absence of an active contract during the period the revenue was collected.

In a related finding, the audit highlights a potential additional financial burden linked to the same eTA platform.

The government paid Sh779.7 million to the service provider for six months of operations between July and December 2024.

However, the firm continued offering services from January to June 2025 without issuing invoices, leaving the amount owed unknown.

“This is making it difficult to provide for the amounts due to the service provider,” the report states.

“The undisclosed amount might result in a future obligation to the State Department of Immigration.”

The government is therefore simultaneously pursuing unremitted revenue from the firm while potentially facing new claims for unpaid services.

Weak revenue controls

Auditors identified a pattern of weak financial controls across revenue collection systems within the department.

Gathungu flagged continued reliance on manual cash collection systems despite the existence of eCitizen, raising concerns over accountability.

At the Civil Registration Services, Sh410.5 million was collected, including Sh389.3 million in cash. However, there was no evidence of reconciliation between revenue reports from regional offices and bank deposits.

“There was no evidence of reconciliation, making it difficult to confirm whether all cash collections were banked,” the auditor said.

At the Integrated Population Registration Services, auditors found that the department failed to maintain records of client deposits.

Balances in a bank-operated float account used for verification services were also not stated.

“It was therefore not possible to confirm the status of each client’s ledger,” Gathungu said.

The audit also raises concerns over the accumulation of sensitive uncollected documents, including passports and IDs.

A total of 56,187 passports and 417,633 national identity cards remained unclaimed as of June 30, 2025.

The Auditor General noted there is no legal framework governing the disposal of such documents, posing storage and security challenges.

“The uncollected security documents pose a challenge of storage and security without a clear legal framework on disposal,” the report states.

The key question is how a private firm was allowed to continue collecting government revenue without a valid contract.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

While the audit stops short of declaring outright fraud, the findings highlight serious lapses in contract enforcement, revenue tracking and accountability. These increase the risk of loss of public funds. The Sh927 million in e-visa collections adds to a growing list of audit queries pointing to weaknesses in public finance management systems.