Kenya's Auditor General Discloses KSh 44.8b Collected on eCitizen Unaccounted For
- Auditor General Nancy Gathungu disclosed that KSh 100.8 billion was collected via the eCitizen platform in the 2023/2024 financial year
- Gathungu bemoaned the government's lack of complete control over the system and its heavy reliance on a vendor
- She also flagged a balance of KSh 7.1 billion kept in nine US dollar accounts and 12 shilling-denominated accounts
Japhet Ruto, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has over eight years of expertise in finance, business, and technology journalism in Kenya and globally.
A new report by Kenya's Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, reveals that approximately KSh 44.8 billion paid through the government's eCitizen digital payment platform is unaccounted for.
Source: Twitter
How much was collected on eCitizen?
Gathungu disclosed that out of the KSh 100.8 billion collected through the platform in the 2023/2024 financial year, discrepancies were found between the balances shown in revenue statements, the e-portal system, and the ledger.
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Cash books and bank reconciliation statements for a balance of KSh 7.1 billion kept in nine US dollar accounts and 12 shilling-denominated accounts that were not supplied for audit were also questioned in the report.
"During the year, a total of KSh 100.84 billion, inclusive of an amount of KSh 44.82 billion in respect of receivers of revenue, was collected through the eCitizen government digital payments (GDP) platform.
However, review of the eCitizen portal and the revenue statements revealed variances between balances reflected in the revenue statements, the e-portal system and the ledger, casting doubt on the completeness and accuracy of receipts reported by the receivers of revenue amounting to KSh 44,816,483,773," Gathungu revealed in her report.
Source: Facebook
Why Gathungu expressed concerns
The report also disclosed unsupported previous-year balances of KSh 145.8 million, for which bank account information and explanations for the protracted delays in money transfers were not supplied.
The platform has about 17,692 State functions integrated within it.
"The eCitizen programme cuts across the Social and Economic Pillar of the Vision 2030, the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), and is linked directly to Technology and Innovation as well as public sector reforms," the report highlighted.
"The audit of eCitizen's revenue accountability statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, revealed anomalies despite the platform's strategic importance," it added.
Gathungu bemoaned the government's lack of complete control over the system and its heavy reliance on the vendor for essential operations, even though she disclosed that her office was conducting a special audit on the platform.
According to the report, the Government Digital Payments Unit found it challenging to carry out crucial system configurations and modifications to support expansion, such as onboarding new government services, because the vendor had substantial influence over the system.
Was KSh 15b lost?
In other news, Gathungu identified revenue leaks as one of the eCitizen platform's concerns in February 2024.
Differences in eCitizen collections and receipts for the 2022/2023 FY were noted in Gathungu's report on revenue statements.
Gathungu stated in the report that revenue receipts totalling more than KSh 15 billion were not verified.
Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
