Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has praised the eCitizen platform for its remarkable performance, reporting an increase of Ksh.74 billion in collections over the past year. Speaking before the Senate on Wednesday, Mbadi highlighted the successful digitisation of over 16,000 government services on the platform, which has led to a notable improvement in service delivery. The platform now handles 120,000 transactions daily and collected Ksh.100.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, compared to Ksh.26 billion in the previous year.
Mbadi attributed this success to enhanced transparency and reduced leakages through the use of a single paybill system. “We have managed to reduce leakages in the system, having a single paybill has worked very well, and visibility of our transactions has been enhanced,” he stated.
However, Senators raised concerns regarding the platform’s cybersecurity, questioning potential risks. Mbadi acknowledged past hacking attempts but assured that all were thwarted, thanks to a security operations center that monitors the system continuously and responds to threats immediately.
Digital transformation has been a key priority for President William Ruto’s administration, aimed at creating job opportunities for the youth. Despite the platform’s success, there have been concerns about its private control, potentially compromising the accountability of the billions processed. ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui addressed these concerns in March 2024, confirming that the government took full control of the system in 2023. He emphasized that the eCitizen platform represents a significant milestone in the government’s digital transformation agenda, enhancing transparency and revenue collection across various agencies.
