About Sh44.8 billion paid through the eCitizen government digital payments platform cannot be accounted for, a new report shows.

Of the Sh100.8 billion collected through the platform in the 2023/2024 financial year, revenue statements revealed variances between balances reflected in those statements, the e-portal system, and the ledger, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu reported.

These discrepancies cast doubt on the completeness and accuracy of receipts reported by receivers of the Sh44.8 billion in revenue.

Unsupported balances

The report also questioned cash books and bank reconciliation statements for a balance of Sh7.1 billion held in 12 shilling-denominated accounts and nine US dollar accounts that were not provided for audit.

Furthermore, the report revealed unsupported prior-year balances of Sh145.8 million, for which details of the bank accounts and reasons for the long delays in transferring the funds were not provided.

Some 17,692 State functions have been integrated into the platform.

“The eCitizen programme cuts across the Social and Economic Pillar of the Vision 2030, the BETA, and is linked directly to Technology and Innovation as well as Public Sector Reforms,” the report says.

“Despite the strategic importance of eCitizen, the audit of [its] revenue accountability statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, revealed … anomalies.”

Although Gathungu revealed that her office was undertaking a special audit on the platform, she lamented that the government did not have full control of the system and was relying significantly on the vendor for critical functions.

System control

The report states that the vendor had significant control of the system, making it difficult for the Government Digital Payments Unit to perform critical system configurations and changes to support growth, including onboarding new government services.

“Lack of full control of the system exposes the government to the risk of revenue leakages, lack of full accountability, system unavailability or downtime, security vulnerabilities, and business continuity threats,” the report says.

“Further, the adequacy and effectiveness of the IT controls on eCitizen did not guarantee integrity of the data processed through the system.”

This report comes barely a month after lawmakers announced they had opened an investigation into the platform after it emerged that it could collapse if the Government terminated the contract with the system developers.

Documents submitted to the Administration and Internal Affairs Committee by Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang raised questions regarding the control and maintenance of the system, which collects millions of shillings from customers seeking government services.

The documents also showed that the government had entered into a contract that is only favourable to the suppliers and does not take into account the interests of Kenya.

Service agreements

According to the contract signed on May 25, 2023 – and submitted to the committee –  termination of the platform would allow the owners to pull it down.

Although the contract is supposed to last three years – from 2023 to 2026 – it does not specify the exact start and end dates.

“In the event of termination, howsoever occurring, the Suppliers shall be entitled to rescind, withdraw or otherwise uninstal all their proprietary infrastructure and resources, including all technical infrastructure whether software or otherwise, that may have been deployed in order to enable them to provide their services under this Agreement,” the contract says.

Gathungu said managers of the system signed service level agreements with payment service providers for payment channels.

Support services

She disclosed that Safaricom PLC’s agreement for providing co-location and support services to e-Citizen platforms expired on June 30, 2023.

Furthermore, she said, the consultancy agreement between the system vendor and the National Treasury was not provided for audit review. That meant it was not possible to establish the terms of the consultancy and the responsibilities of each party in the management of eCitizen.

“The National Treasury had been sued by a system developer claiming ownership of the e-Citizen system. The court granted an out-of-court negotiation, and a consent dated January 23, 2024, was executed by the parties and adopted as a judgment of the High Court,” the report says.

“A total of Sh127,850,950 was paid to two system developers, and the case was marked as closed.”