Senate Majority Leader and Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot has criticised the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) director, Nashon Kondiwa, over recent remarks expressing reservations about the use of the eCitizen platform to collect fines charged to motorists.

Speaking during an interview on the Alfa House Podcast on Friday, July 3, 2026, the outspoken senator accused some heads of government agencies of resisting the government’s digital payment system because it limits the handling of cash.

According to Cheruiyot, some officials would prefer payments to be made directly to their institutions instead of through the eCitizen platform, arguing that this undermines transparency and accountability.

“But I have told you the fightback is coming from all quarters, including government entities themselves that do not want to comply. Yes, the NTSA director could be among them. The people I’m talking about are Kenyans like all of us—they are government employees, just like those who were causing all that drama at the park entrance,” Cheruiyot said.

E-citizens fight back

The senator further stated that eCitizen continues to face resistance from several government agencies whose leaders are opposed to the centralised digital payment system.

Cheruiyot argued that the opposition stems from concerns over the loss of control over revenue collected by the agencies.

“But they know what they stand to lose if that happens. In fact, it is one of the issues that has come up many times in Parliament. They say they want their own unique systems because of traceability and all these things, but it doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.

He maintained that, ideally, government entities should not operate separate payment systems, adding that eCitizen enhances accountability by ensuring funds are remitted through a central platform.

The Senate Majority Leader also linked the resistance to the issue of Appropriations-in-Aid (AIA), a mechanism that allows revenue-generating government institutions to retain and spend a portion of the money they collect before remitting the balance to the national treasury.

“They didn’t like the idea of eCitizen because they didn’t want to see it controlled. There’s something called ‘appropriation in aid’. As a revenue-raising institution, you’re allowed to spend a percentage of what you collect before submitting the rest to the Treasury. They didn’t like that idea,” Cheruiyot said.

NTSA boss contradiction

The remarks come days after the NTSA director faced scrutiny over the agency’s payment system after failing to explain why fines charged to motorists are not processed through the standard eCitizen platform.

General kondiwa appeared to contradict himself in the process of trying to give his explanation.