The Treasury has disowned a private firm, Goldrock Capital, that was contracted to collect revenue from users of the Government's eCitizen platform.
Since 2014, the firm has collected over Sh5.6 Billion.
Goldrock had sued the Treasury and Webmasters Kenya, which developed the platform, for locking them out of the M-Pesa eCitizen Paybill account.
In new court papers, Treasury PS Kamau Thugge stated: “I am aware that the government has not authorised Goldrock Capital to collect the convenience fee or otherwise derive any remunerative benefit from any transaction carried out through the eCitizen portal.
"I am aware that Goldrock Capital is not authorised by the CS, National Treasury to collect revenue for and on behalf of the government,” he continued.
[caption caption="Treasury PS Kamau Thugge"]
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eCitizen is a web portal, developed in 2013 with funding from the World Bank, that allows Kenyan citizens access to a range of Government services including business registration, driving licenses and passport applications.
Goldrock states that it was sub-contracted by Webmasters Africa Limited on behalf of Webmasters Kenya Limited.
Webmasters Kenya, has, however, claimed that it is not affiliated to Webmasters Africa.
Court records, on the other hand, show that Webmasters Kenya Chief Executive James Ayugi is also the Managing Director of Webmasters Africa, proving a link between the two entities.
In their replying affidavit, Webmasters Africa admits that the firm sub-contracted Goldrock to collect funds from the platform, but states that the deal would expire if the Government issued a binding directive regarding the Payment's platform.
The controversy arises from the fact that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is the only body mandated by law to collect government revenue, therefore, raising questions on whether the Sh5.6 Billion can be accounted for.
[caption caption="A snapshot of the eCitizen portal"]
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