The State's e-Citizen self-service and payment portal, handling billions of shillings in transactions, faces significant control issues, according to Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.

In her latest audit report, Gathungu emphasized concerns over the lack of government control, warning of potential compromises to accountability.

Gathungu highlighted that despite the platform's strategic importance, the government lacks full control, heavily relying on the vendor for critical functions.

“Preliminary review of operations of the e-Citizen Government Digital Payments (GDP) platform indicate that, despite the strategic importance of e-Citizen, the government does not have full control of the system and relies significantly on the vendor for some critical functions,” Gathungu stated in her report.

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This dependency, she cautioned, could lead to revenue leakage, accountability gaps, system downtime, and security vulnerabilities.

The Auditor-General's preliminary review uncovered operational weaknesses, including manual reconciliation and settlement processes at the National Treasury, posing risks of errors and delays.

With a policy mandating e-Citizen for all payments, Gathungu stressed the need for real-time reconciliation to ensure sustainability.

"Review of financial operations of the GDPU indicates that reconciliations and settlements were done manually," Gathungu stated.

"Manual processes introduce the risk of human errors and delays in the transfer of payments,"

Furthermore, Gathungu expressed concern over the absence of an approved IT policy, an ICT Steering Committee, and essential contingency plans within the e-Citizen system.

She revealed the Treasury's refusal to disclose the consultancy agreement with the vendor, hindering clarity on responsibilities.

“It was, therefore, not possible to establish the terms of the consultancy and the responsibilities of each party in the management of the e-Citizen Government Digital Payments System,” she disclosed.

In response, Gathungu initiated a special audit to assess the system's credibility and reliability, aiming to ensure data accuracy and completeness.

She urged immediate action to address control gaps, implement real-time reconciliation, and establish comprehensive governance frameworks.

The revelations underscore the urgency for robust oversight and governance mechanisms within e-Citizen to safeguard public funds and ensure seamless service delivery.