The directorate of Criminal Investigation along with the Office of Public Prosecution have opened an investigation into the missing Kshs. 5.6 Billion for E-Citizen.
E-Citizen portal is a gateway to all government services in Kenya. The eCitizen portal is an online one-stop portal that enables Kenyans to apply and pay for government services online. Anyone with access to the eCitizen portal can access government information and make online payments for the following services.
The Directorate wants to establish how the Ksh5.6 billion disappeared from the eCitizen pay bill account, which was being managed by local firm, Goldrock Capital limited.
“We have started investigations and will keep Kenyans informed of the progress as we move on,” a sleuth privy to the matter said.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is reported to be probing high-flying Treasury officials and directors of two firms implicated in the scandal.
Goldrock Capital limited managed to set up an M-Pesa pay bill — over which the Treasury had no control and started collecting money from Kenyans on behalf of the government.
It is not clear how the firm took over the role of the Kenya Revenue Authority by receiving billions of shillings from Kenyans without any approval from the Treasury.
The Treasury denied permitting the private firm to collect money on behalf of the government.
“I am aware that Goldrock Capital is not authorised by the National Treasury CS to collect revenue for and on behalf of the government,” Treasury PS Kamau Thuggementioned.
The eCitizen is an online platform, through which the government provides essential services such as applications for passports, driving licenses, business registration, motor vehicle logbooks and title deeds.
The eCitizen portal was developed in 2013 with funding from the World Bank and other donors.
IT firm Webmasters Kenya was contracted to develop the portal, while Goldrock was subcontracted to develop a non-cash payment system for the project.