Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Dr. Belio Kipsang has outlined how Kenya’s e-Citizen platform operates, revealing that three companies were competitively contracted to maintain the government’s flagship digital service delivery system.
In a TV interview, PS Kipsang defended the selection, emphasizing that the firms were chosen through a proper procurement process and possess the expertise needed to manage the system efficiently.
He highlighted the platform’s financial and operational impact, noting that while the government spends about KSh1.1 billion annually on maintenance, e-Citizen facilitates the collection of up to KSh1 billion in revenues daily.
The platform currently hosts more than 22,000 services, attracts roughly 500,000 visits per day, and serves 14 million registered users.
“I think we’ve been paying almost Sh115 million to 120 million per month, which is an average of around 1.1 billion shillings per year. So in a year, we pay almost Sh1.1 billion to maintain this system,” Kipsang noted.
How the System Is Managed
Each of the three firms manages a distinct component of the platform: one handles technical operations and website maintenance, PesaFlow oversees the payment gateway, and Olive Tree manages the SMS feedback system.
“It is similar to buying a car and going back to the authorised service centre for maintenance,” Kipsang said, stressing the importance of specialised support to ensure uninterrupted service delivery.
“These three firms were brought on board through a procurement process. It is not that we woke up one morning and decided they would maintain our system. They went through a process and were identified, and having developed the systems themselves, they had a better competitive advantage in maintaining them,” he added.
Services and Timelines
Kipsang explained that every service listed in a ministry or agency’s service charter is mapped individually onto e-Citizen. Examples include passport applications, passport renewals, lost passport services, driving license renewals, and park entry payments. Each service has a specific timeline so citizens know how long it will take to access them.
He also pointed to the platform’s transformative effect on government operations.
“With 500,000 hits per day, the system is handling traffic equivalent to hundreds of thousands of people physically queuing for services,” he said, highlighting the significant efficiency gains for both citizens and government offices.
Kipsang added that some services still go underutilised due to some agencies not publicising them enough. The ministries and departments have been asked to create awareness so that the citizens are able to derive maximum benefit from the platform, enhancing convenience, transparency, and efficiency.
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