The government on Wednesday summoned CEOs of 17 state agencies over failure to comply with President William Ruto's directive ordering that all government payments be made through eCitizen.
According to a statement issued by the Office of the President, the CEOs will appear before the Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau next week to explain why they have not enforced the order.
Some of the CEOs who have been summoned include those heading major agencies including; the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the Hustler Fund and the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC).
Others are; Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), and National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
Similarly, the CEOs of the National Aids Control Council, the Mathari Referral and Teaching Hospital, Kenya Railways Corporation, Kenya Ferry Services Limited, Kenya National Trading Corporation and the Kenya School of Government have also been summoned.
Wanjau speaking in Syokimau, Machakos County, noted that the summons were issued following a comply-or-explain letter that had been sent to the various agencies on August 4.
“Following conversations that have happened, these state corporations have been invited for a meeting on Tuesday at 9 am and this meeting is to be attended by the CEO, the Chair of the board and the PS who is the accounting officer," Wanjau stated.
The Secretary to the Cabinet explained that the CEOs were supposed to demonstrate that they were on a pathway to fully channel all payments to the 222222 common PayBill launched by President William Ruto.
The Head of State launched the common PayBill on June 30 and directed all government entities to be fully onboarded by December 31.
Wanjau remarked that several agencies were deliberately retaining separate bank accounts and advertising unofficial payment channels.
“If you want to use 222222 but meanwhile encourage payments to alternative platforms, what are you saying?” she asked.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julis Bitok who was in attendance remarked that the State Department would seal all loopholes different agencies were using to divert cash.
Through such an initiative, Bitok stated that it would help the country hit the target of Ksh1.5 trillion annual collection.
“With technology, we will seal loopholes, enhance service delivery and raise revenue collection to hit our targets," he vowed.
Other leaders who were in attendance included; Performance and Delivery Management PS Veronica Nduva, Broadcasting and Telecommunications PS Edward Kisiangani, Devolution PS Terry Mbaika and Tourism PS John Ololtuaa.
Kisiangani urged State Agencies to deploy simplified communication on the availability of services on eCitizen.
