Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has questioned the veracity of the financial statements of the eCitizen, after a review flagged widespread inconsistencies for the year ended June 2025, including suspect Sh206.13 billion cash transfers.
An audit unearthed unsupported balances, missing documentation and gaps in the system used as the single point of access for all government services. eCitizen is an online portal through which the government provides essential services such as applications for passports, driving licences, business registration certificates, vehicle logbooks, and title deeds, among others.
‘The statement of financial performance reflects total transfers of Sh206,130,045,721. However, the corroboration of the amount transferred for various entities revealed variances. The variances have not been explained or reconciled,’ Ms Gathugu said.
She said that, as reported in a special audit report in March, 2025, the eCitizen operations indicated that collections were automated, but the transfer of funds to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) was conducted manually.
The Auditor General pointed out that the transfer from the settlement account to the MDA collection accounts process involved system batching, manual preparation and approval of payment records at both the Government Digital Payment Unit and the National Treasury Directorate of Accounting Services before submission to the bank for onward settlement to the MDA collection accounts.
‘In addition, the MDA collection accounts and services were already mapped within the eCitizen platform to allow for seamless automated transfers, making the current practice of manual settlements unnecessary and inconsistent with the logic of an integrated digital payment system,’ Ms Gathungu said.
‘The manual processing of settlements exposes the process to errors and security risks. Management has indicated that it is in the process of procuring a revenue management system that will ensure real-time reconciliation going forward,’ she added.
The audit officer further pointed out that the statement of financial position of eCitizen reflected Kenya Shillings-denominated accounts payable balances of Sh3,052,142,281 and United States Dollars accounts payable equivalent of Sh618,162,052, even though the corroboration of payables balances for various entities revealed variances.
‘The variances have not been explained or reconciled. Management has indicated that it is in the process of procuring a revenue management system that will ensure real-time reconciliation going forward,’ Ms Gtahungu said.
‘In the circumstances, the completeness and accuracy of total transfers of Sh206,130,045,721, Kenya Shillings denominated accounts payables balance of Sh3,052,142,281 and United States Dollars (USD) accounts payables equivalent of Sh618,162,052 could not be confirmed,’ she added.