Former Chief Justice David Maraga has demanded the publication of all local and foreign bank accounts allegedly used to siphon billions of shillings from eCitizen, following a damning report by the Auditor General.
In a long-winded statement released on Thursday, August 7, the presidential candidate also demanded that the holders of these accounts be publicly named and prosecuted as per existing laws.
While accusing the government of impunity, Maraga also called for the immediate resignation of all public officials involved in or around the reported irregularities.
“The Auditor General’s audit report on eCitizen clearly shows a regime that will not just steal; it does so with arrogance and impunity,” he noted.
“We demand that the government make public all the accounts in local and foreign banks that were used to siphon public money, and the holders of these accounts be publicly named and prosecuted as per existing laws. In the meantime, we call for the immediate resignation of all public officials involved in or around the reported irregularities,” Maraga demanded.
In the report, AG Gathungu unveiled a raft of irregularities at eCitizen, including the illegal collection of Ksh2.1 billion through the Ksh50 transaction fee charged for accessing government services on the platform.
According to the Special Report on eCitizen, published in March, the government illegally increased the transaction fees, contrary to directives issued in Gazette Notice No. 9290/2014, dated December 23, 2014.
The audit found that instead of charging a nominal administrative fee per transaction as gazetted, which was to be a prorated percentage of the amounts paid, the National Treasury has continued to charge a convenience fee of Ksh50 per transaction.
eCitizen, which was launched in 2017 and rapidly expanded in 2022 after President William Ruto's ascent to power, irregularly collected over Ksh1.8 billion from the public during the period before January 23, 2023.
The report also unearthed the unlawful diversion of funds from the mandatory 222222 Paybill for payment of government services to private accounts.
The bank statements showed that four transactions were made from the paybill account to private entities instead of the designated settlement account, amounting to Ksh127 million.
Another damning revelation in the report was the payment of over Ksh492 million for services rendered to improve the system, paid to a company that was not party to the agreement.
Meanwhile, Maraga asserted that the public would not tire in seeking answers, adding that Kenyans would not relent in their pursuit of accountability and good governance.
The eCitizen platform currently runs 22000 government services and collects a whopping Ksh700 million a day.
It was first introduced in 2014, growing to house 5,000 county and national government services in its first few years of existence, including agencies like the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Registration Bureau (NRB), and, more popularly, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
