File image of President William Ruto.
President William Ruto on Thursday, November 28 put on notice 34 CEOs of government agencies over eCitizen.
Speaking during the first anniversary of the e-Citizen Directorate at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, the President said no government department will be allowed to undermine the digitisation of government services.
Ruto said the government is committed to transparency and accountability in the collection of public revenue and the delivery of public services.
He gave 34 government institutions resisting the digitisation programme a one-week deadline to onboard all their services and payments on the e-Citizen platform, saying they must all comply with the directive.
“They have one week to comply. Otherwise, they know what to do – they can make use of the door. It’s as simple as that,” said Ruto.
President Ruto also called out government agencies that have onboarded their services on e-Citizen but continue to use alternative payment methods to facilitate the theft of public funds.
File image of President William Ruto.
The President directed the e-Citizen management to provide such institutions’ records of the past three months to enable the government to take action against those undermining transparency in the collection of public resources.
“We cannot continue to collect public money in grey areas and dark corners. We want a system where the public knows the portal through which the money they pay is collected. We must be able to track revenue from every public entity and ensure that citizens’ payments go directly to public coffers,” said Ruto.
President Ruto also pointed out that digitisation of government services has significantly improved efficiency in service delivery, saving time and money for both citizens and the government.
The President noted that, within one year, e-Citizen now hosts 22,515 services and boasts a whopping 13 million active users.
He said revenue collection on the digital platform has grown significantly, enabling the government to mobilise critical resources for public projects.
“E-Citizen is not just a digital service delivery platform; it represents a paradigm shift that has redefined public service delivery in Kenya and profoundly impacted lives,” he said.
He cited the Kenya Wildlife Service, saying it had increased annual revenue collection from KSh5.3 billion to KSh7.6 billion, thanks to the digitisation programme.
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