The government has collected at least Sh127.2 billion through the e-Citizen digital platform since President William Ruto ordered that all government services be paid through a single payment number.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the platform processes about 120,000 transactions daily and managed to collect Sh26.4 billion in the financial year ending June 30, 2023.
However, the figure grew exponentially to Sh100.8 billion in the financial year ended June 30, 2024 as more services were added to the system, which currently stands at 16,000 services.
“The single payment pay bill has worked well, and the visibility of our transactions has improved. The platform has managed to stop leakages,” Mbadi said when he appeared before the Senate on Wednesday.
The CS said Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) payments will soon be on the platform, with high-level engagements already underway.
The development is part of Kenya Kwanza’s move to digitise all government payments to increase revenue collection, minimise collection costs and improve service delivery.
Mr Mbadi was responding to a question from Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who wanted to know where the convenience fee charged and all other payments not reflected on the platform end up.
“The convenience fee goes to the service provider so that the money collected is not used again to pay the service provider,” said Mr Mbadi.
The Senator also wanted to know what caused the failure of the e-Citizen digital platform to process and reflect payments made to some institutions such as the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and what steps were being taken to remedy the situation.
This is in addition to the safety, efficiency, effectiveness and reliability of the digital payment platform, given the numerous complaints of delays and technical issues that have followed the onboarding of a significant number of government services on the platform.
“What is the justification for the convenience fee? It means that you are paying for a service and you are still being charged for it. For example, if you are paying your monthly premium for NHIF, what is the justification for that fee?” the ODM secretary general asked.
In response, the CS defended the payment of the convenience fee, saying it is paid to the service provider who has ensured that government services are easily accessible online and that payments can be made electronically and conveniently.
He explained that the platform charges between Sh5 and Sh50 as convenience fee depending on the transaction amount, while for dollar accounts, the fee is one dollar.
The CS pointed out that the platform only collects convenience fees for successful transactions and when a user makes a payment, it is first collected from the service providers’ channels before the money is transferred to the e-Citizen account at Kenya Commercial Bank.
He noted that payments are made in the system in a specified and defined format that must be followed for it to be successful and any payment that does not conform to the format will not be successful.
However, should the payment fail, he said, the transaction details, i.e. payment amounts and convenience fees, are retained by the payment service providers, who reverse the transaction and notify the e-Citizen platform.
The CS admitted that the system has faced major challenges in integrating more than 16,000 services from the previous 397, such as cyber terrorism and hacking.
However, he said there is a multi-ministerial team with security operation centres that monitors the platform and ensures that any attack is responded to immediately to ensure it is secure against cyber terrorism, hacking and compromises that could disrupt service delivery.
“The platform has withstood several cyber-attacks by hackers, as a result of continuous risk assessment of the platform’s vulnerabilities. The team has been able to address significant parts of the challenges to stabilise the platform,” he said.
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina pressed the CS on whether the government was in control of the platform or whether it would be leased in perpetuity or transferred to the government at some point.
“Has the system been developed on a build-operate-transfer (BoT) model or will it be leased forever? At what point will the government take full control of the system from the webmaster?” asked Mr Olekina.
CS Mbadi said the system has been handed over to the government and is being operated by the ICT Authority on a contractual basis, where the government collects money and the Authority then pays the service provider.
“The contract is for three years, after which the government will evaluate whether to continue with it or look for another system,” Mr Mbadi said.
Nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri asked the minister why hospitals were still owed money by the defunct NHIF when people had deducted the money through their contributions and how much the debt was.
Nominated Senator Catherine Mumma wanted to know if mechanisms have been put in place to conduct an audit of the NHIF to account for the money Kenyans have paid into it.
“People who pre-paid for health insurance at the beginning of the year are now being told they cannot use NHIF cards. How has this been handled and will a special audit of NHIF be carried out to ensure accountability for every cent Kenyans have put into the scheme?” she asked.
Mr Mbadi admitted that no audit had been done but said the exercise would be done to ensure closure.
