Government spends Sh1.1 billion annually to maintain e-Citizen - PS Belio Kipsang

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang. (Photo: State Dept for Immigration and Citizen Services/X)

By Rachael Mutabasi
Tuesday, September 9, 2025

PS Belio Kipsang defended the selection, emphasising that the firms were chosen through a proper procurement process and had the expertise needed to maintain the system efficiently.

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang has revealed that three companies were competitively contracted to maintain Kenya’s e-Citizen platform, the government’s flagship digital service delivery system.

Speaking in an interview on NTV, Kipsang defended the selection, emphasising that the firms were chosen through a proper procurement process and had the expertise needed to maintain the system efficiently.

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Kipsang highlighted the platform’s financial and operational impact, noting that while the government spends about Sh1.1 billion annually on maintenance, e-Citizen now facilitates the collection of up to Sh1 billion in revenues daily. The platform currently hosts more than 22,000 services, attracts approximately 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.

Explaining the rationale behind contracting the three companies, he said each handles a distinct part of the e-Citizen platform: the webmaster provides technical support, PesaFlow manages the payment gateway, and Olive Tree oversees the SMS feedback system.

The PS explained that each of the three firms handles a distinct component of the system: one manages technical operations and the website, another oversees the gateway or passive flow, and the third, Olive Tree, handles the feedback mechanism and SMS services.

“It is similar to buying a car and going back to the authorised service centre for maintenance,” Kipsang said, emphasising 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," said Kipsang.

On service classification, Kipsang clarified that every offering listed in a ministry or agency’s service charter is mapped onto e-Citizen as a separate service. Examples include passport applications, passport renewals, lost passport services, driving license renewals, and park entry payments. Each service is tracked with specific timelines to ensure citizens know how long it will take to access them.

He also noted the platform’s transformative impact 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, pointing to significant logistical and efficiency gains for both citizens and government offices.

Kipsang added that some services remain underutilised because certain agencies have not fully promoted the options available. He urged ministries and departments to raise awareness so that citizens can fully benefit from the platform, enhancing convenience, transparency, and efficiency.