A special audit of the eCitizen platform has uncovered major control failures that cost the government KSh 127.85 million and left public funds at risk. The report paints a clear picture: a system meant to modernize public revenue is instead leaking money, overcharging citizens, and depending heavily on a private vendor.
The audit found that KSh 127.85 million was diverted from the official Paybill โ222222โ to private accounts with no approvals or documentation. It also flagged KSh 68.7 million and USD 48.1 million moved through an unapproved account called โPesaflow2.โ As of June 2024, KSh 7.05 billion sat in eCitizenโs collection and settlement accounts โ and KSh 2.57 billion of that could not be matched to any invoices.
Why does this matter? Because money collected from citizens for services can be misused or delayed before it reaches ministries and agencies. Manual settlement processes caused an average eight-day delay in funds reaching public entities. Those delays left services underfunded while banks and intermediaries held large sums without clear service agreements.
The audit also exposes how fees hurt ordinary people. Instead of a pro-rated charge, the platform applied a flat KSh 50 convenience fee per transaction. This unfair rule led to overcharges of KSh 30.73 million on the old gateway and KSh 319.03 million on the new one. Overall, KSh 1.8 billion and USD 3.3 million were improperly collected as convenience fees. For low-value transactions โ like a KSh 20 product โ the fee made services many times more expensive. For patients, repeated fees during a single visit became a heavy burden.
Control of the platform is another big worry. Although the government formally owns eCitizen, Webmasters Kenya Ltd retained critical admin rights and source code. A handover agreement in January 2023 has not been fully implemented, leaving the state dependent on the private vendor. The platform also lacked a Data Protection Impact Assessment, and it suffered a DDoS attack in July 2023.
The Auditor General calls for urgent reforms: recover diverted funds, investigate irregular transfers, fix fee rules, and secure full government control of the system. The message is simple โ digital transformation must protect public money and serve citizens, not expose them to extra costs and risk.
Below are posts from X users that capture the public reaction and calls for accountability.
If we try to prosecute one, you'll all protect your tribemates. 11 billion could fund our education but is now buying apartments in Dubai. Our country has an extremely sad story! ๐ญ
— John Kitonyo (@kitonyo_john) August 5, 2025
Seems there is no one to jail these idiots..yet poor Kenyans are suffering while their families are abroadโฆ.one day the poor will revenge..even if itโs after death
— Lime (@LimeDerick) August 5, 2025
What was meant to be a gateway for efficient service delivery has turned into a digital vault for lootersโstreamlining theft, turning public funds into private fortunes while citizens get higher taxes and zero accountability. This is not innovation; itโs institutionalized plunderโฆ
— Abdi (@MoGAbdi) August 5, 2025
Did I mention something like this ,,that the government is not the one running the e-citizen?? Now wait for looting of money from that thing and many other stories
— ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ (@vinguard254) February 22, 2024
Featured image via Screengrab