MPs query eCitizen platform’s financial accountability
By Mercy Mwai, July 23, 2025Lawmakers have challenged the continued operation of the eCitizen platform amid concerns over billions in unaccounted revenue and questioned National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo about system irregularities.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Tindi Mwale (Butere) on July 22, 2025, summoned Kiptoo after learning that funds collected through the platform don’t reach Treasury accounts at the Central Bank of Kenya.
“The PS must come and shed more light on this matter because it’s an issue that affects government departments,” said Mwale.
Recommendations ‘ignored’
MPs Joseph Namwar (Turkana), Marianne Kitany (Aldai), and Otiende Amollo (Rarieda) said officials had ignored previous PAC recommendations flagged in Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu’s reports.
Namwar expressed concerns about platform abuse, stating: “It is not clear whether the money collected through the eCitizen platform ends at the exchequer accounts.”
Kitany highlighted systemic problems requiring Treasury intervention: “There are cases of billions of public funds being at the eCitizen. Its reporting mechanism is wanting.”
Treasury records
Amollo emphasised the urgency, noting issues raised since 2017 remain unaddressed: “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.”
The scrutiny intensified when Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose couldn’t explain revenue collection by the State Law Office through eCitizen.
“E-citizen does not give us a report,” Mose told MPs, unable to provide Treasury records on platform collections.
Marriage centres
Gathungu’s 2022/23 audit revealed Ksh116.83 million from 15 marriage centres, with collections from 19 centres unrecorded due to missing periodic reports.
Her report noted: “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 controversy deepened following Gathungu’s recent revelation that about Ksh44.8 billion paid through the platform remains unaccounted for.
Her audit found the government lacks full system control, relying heavily on vendors for critical functions.
“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,” Gathungu warned.
The vendors’ significant system control hampers critical configurations and growth support, including onboarding new government services, raising serious questions about platform governance and financial transparency.