State targets Sh4bn daily eCitizen collections
President William Ruto during the launch of e-Citizen services, GavaMkononi app and Gava Express at KICC in Nairobi on June 30.
The government is projecting to collect Sh4.2 billion per day by December 2024 following the onboarding of government services onto the eCitizen platform.
This will see the state collect Sh1.4 trillion by December next year, the Nation has established.
This, as Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau directed all ministers and senior government officials to promote the use of the government payment platform for all services in their public functions.
The ambition, a presentation by Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof Julius Bitok says, is stoked by the “significant” success and the “more than 600 per cent” growth in daily revenues over the period it has attempted to harmonise the collections through eCitizen.
In the same period, the eCitizen services have grown from 397 to over 13,645, with the platform’s registered users currently standing at 12,083,914.
As at last year, the government collected Sh60 million per month through the platform. This has grown over time, Prof Bitok said, with the government currently collecting Sh350 million daily. By the end of this month, the government is expecting to collect Sh1 billion per day.
With only a few days to the December 31 deadline for onboarding all services, the eCitizen implementation committee is banking on Cabinet Secretaries to augment its efforts in ensuring compliance with President William Ruto’s directive.
According to the Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau, who also doubles as the committee’s chairperson, most ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have complied with the directive. Alike, the government is asking all MDAs to work closely with the eCitizen directorate to ensure full compliance.
“Ensure that compliance with the directive remains a standing agenda item in all relevant meetings held within your portfolio. This will have the benefit of ensuring consistent progress and accountability towards achieving the onboarding deadline,” Ms Wanjau said in a circular dated December 1 to all the Cabinet Secretaries.
During last year’s Jamhuri Day celebrations, President Ruto directed that 5,000 services be onboarded onto the eCitizen portal within six months (by June 30, 2023).
The President had further directed the closure of non-designated payment platforms.
This was undertaken in phases, with July 31 being the deadline for the closure of all the undesignated paybill numbers and the migration of all government payments to the gazetted Paybill number 222222.
