Ruto’s e-Citizen Plan Suffers Setback
The government is unlikely to achieve its goal of integrating numerous services into the e-Citizen platform following the latest budget review for the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
As per the updated Programme Budget, the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services had aimed to bring 11,000 government services onto the digital platform within this financial period.
However, due to a Ksh82 million reduction in funding allocated to e-Citizen services, the government will only manage to digitalize 6,000 services.
Consequently, more than 5,000 services will remain unavailable on the digital platform, presenting a challenge to President William Ruto’s agenda for government service digitization.
After the National Treasury’s announcement, the allocated funds for e-Citizen services were reduced from Ksh689,921,779 to Ksh607,641,033 due to a budget cut of Ksh82 million.
The Finance Bill 2024 withdrawal precipitated budget reductions in the current fiscal year, contributing to a Ksh300 billion deficit.
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Upon assuming office, Ruto spearheaded the government’s effort to overhaul the e-Citizen platform, expanding its range of accessible government services.
The digitization initiative, championed by the Head of State, aimed to improve service delivery and enhance revenue collection efficiency, prompting the establishment of a central pay bill number.
“The cash payments system is slippery and often an avenue for corruption. Technology will help us eliminate this,” Ruto stated during a trip to Japan in February.
While addressing the nation on July 11, Ruto highlighted that 17,000 government services, including passport applications and driving license services, have already been integrated.
Kenyans needing registration of person services will now need to use existing government facilities, as construction of civil registration services registries nationwide has been halted.
The state department had originally intended to build and activate 10 registries during the current fiscal year.
Ruto’s e-Citizen Plan Suffers Setback
