E-Citizen

The Government Digital Payments Unit is a Unit under the Directorate of Accounting Services and Quality Assurance of the National Treasury. As per the Gazette No. 400 of 12^th January 2018, the Unit reports to a Steering Committee which is chaired by the PS/National Treasury. The Unit mandate is to digitize all payments into Government with an aim to increase revenue collection, minimize the cost of collection and enhance service delivery. Since its inception in 2014, over 17 Million applications have been processed and over Kshs 95 Billion have been collected through the online portal, www.ecitizen.go.ke which is managed by the GDP Unit.

The benefits available to government from digitization of payments in terms of economic growth, increased government revenues and efficiency savings, serve as a call to action by the Government of Kenya to drive development of electronic payment systems. Globally, digitization is known to help agencies progress faster towards their policy goals free from the maze of bureaucracy. It is on this strength that the Government of Kenya is embarking on a number of reforms to increase its operational efficiency, grow revenues and transform service delivery within the public sector. Government Digital Payments Programme is one such reform being implemented by the Kenyan Government.

To address these loopholes, His Excellency The President gave a directive in November 2013 that all payments into government shall be digital. This culminated to the formation of cabinet committee chaired by His Excellency The Deputy President to guide the Government Digital Payments process and establishment of a Taskforce and a Taskforce Secretariat vide Gazette Notice No 2725 of April 24, 2014. The eCitizen portal, www.ecitizen.go.ke was thereafter developed as a payment gateway through which citizens and all persons would pay for government services. The portal was integrated with electronic payment platforms including mobile telephone money payment services. This portal was entrenched in a Gazette Notice No. 9290 of 30^th December 2014.

The mandate of the Taskforce was later enhanced through a Gazette Notice no. 3299 of 13^th May 2015. Until, December 2022, the E-citizen programme was  championed by the Government Digital Payments (GDP) Unit under the Directorate of Accounting Services and Quality Assurance and reports to a Steering Committee chaired by the PS/National Treasury which was created through a Gazette Notice No. 400 dated 12^th January 2018.

In March 2023, the Government of Kenya issued a new Executive Order which realigned several government functions in line with the current regime. In the current Executive Order Number 2 of 2023, the Government of Kenya directed that E-citizen functions be split into two, namely services and payments. In the new directive, services are coordinated by Directorate of E-citizen Services, under State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services, Ministry of Interior while payments for services (revenues due to the government) are managed by The National Treasury, through Government Digital Payments.

In conformance with expectations of the new Executive Order No. 2, National Treasury issued two gazette notices; one to revoke the old paybill 206-206 previously used for revenue collect and operationalize a new one, 222-222 in with new mandate.