The State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services has denied claims that the government has lost a substantial amount of money collected through the e-Citizen payment platform.

Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said the platform has instead made the funds being collected through the system safe because nobody has access before finding their way to the national treasury.

“The platform has enhanced accountability and transparency in public service delivery and revenue collection, sealed financial leakages, and eliminated wastage through a technology-driven process,” said Kipsang.

The PS said this at Serena Hotel in Mombasa on Friday after being questioned by the parliamentary committee on security chairman Gabriel Tongoyo.

Kipsang explained that the e-citizen platform has revolutionized government services, generating interest in countries like South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Morocco, and Zimbabwe, which want to benchmark with Kenya.

“On benchmarking, we have completed a study visit to Estonia, plan to benchmark with Aadhaar in India, and have attracted Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South African, and Morocco,” he said.

He said the platform, which was launched in 2013, has evolved and was helping the government collect between Sh700 million and Sh1 billion daily.

“We have identified 22,573 services which can be offered by the platform, with 21,000 already fully on board and 14 million registered users, as between 350000 and 500,000 people are using the platform every day,” he stated.

He said the platform has 635 servers and was offering 24-hour services with over 600,000 jobs created for Kenyans since its inception in 2013.

Kipsang told the committee that Kenyans were now getting government services without necessarily going to government offices as they used to in the past.

He said those who want passports are getting it within a week after applying without lining up because after making an application, the applicant is informed when he is required to go for the processing.

Kipsang said the e-Citizen platform had reduced frequent human contact as it had in the past, and had reduced corruption in the government corridors and offices.

He said that since the system started working it has managed to help the government collect over half a trillion shillings, showing how efficient it was.

Kipsang said the system platform was purely government-owned despite still being run by private entities for the purpose of continuity in its management, as the government prepares to have it fully managed by Kenyans.

He, however, said there were some challenges, such as funding, which it was not receiving from the government because it had no budget.

Addressing the media, Tongoyo, who was accompanied by several MPs, including Oku Kaunya, said the government was fully supporting the functions of the system and they would make sure it gets the budget.