eCitizen founder James Ayugi has explained why Kenyans are paying extra Ksh.50 convenience fee to access government services.
Speaking on Spice FM, Ayugi said the fee is used to pay for the operational costs incurred in running the platform.
Ayugi, who is the CEO Webmasters Kenya Ltd, stated that there are people behind the day-to-day operations of the eCitizen just like in a physical environment where the same services where previously being accessed.
“The fact that there is a digital format doesn’t mean that there is no cost. Remember in a physical bank there’s a human being serving you and they must get paid; the owner also must pay rent for that space. Equally in a digital space there are costs associated with running this ecosystem. There are engineers and support teams who bring convenience to you, and they must be paid,” he said.
Ayugi maintained that the Ksh.50 is justified since it makes it easier for the citizens to access government services.
He urged the people to accept the convenience fee arguing that the taxes collected are not enough to fund the platform.
“At the end of the day, we should be able to adapt and accept that these digitization platforms that have been presented to us is just to help the government be efficient in its operation and lower cost,” he explained.
According to the CEO, there has always been a cost of accessing government services even on a manual system.
“The manual system is very expensive and therefore currently we are funding eCitizen because we want to access government services and we want to efficiently be in control of our data,” he said.
Why we Chose Ksh.50 as eCitizen Convenience Fee
He revealed that they settled for Ksh.50 after doing all the calculations in terms of the cost, time and the real transaction while launching the platform in 2014.
“So, we proposed the Ksh.50 convenience fee as part of the pilot, we partly consumed it in the initial stages to fund the support and maintenance until when the government started regularizing and structuring all that process,’ explained Ayugi.
“We argued that there was a cost, so in a digital format it needs to be cheaper than the manual system. Of course, it is giving you as a citizen the flexibility of being able to access government services from wherever you are,” he added.
Also Read: Court Issues New Directive on Payment of School Fees Via eCitizen
Where the Money Goes to
Additionally, he revealed that the extra cost goes directly to the government and not the founders of the system.
“Now the money goes to the government 100 percent. We are paid by the government, but we don’t know where they get the money from,” said Ayugi.
For instance, Ayugi explained that when applying for license renewal, the exact cost goes to NTSA while the Ksh.50 is channeled to the ICT Authority.
Also Read: Machogu Addresses Paying Fees with Goats, Firewood on eCitizen
Govt Policy on Funding the Platform
He emphasized that the government allocation for digitization has never been in the past, hence affecting the sector.
However, he expressed confidence that there will be enough revenue to make the sector sustainable in future.
Besides, he said it is the government’s policy to decide on how to finance the platform in future.
“This administration is keen on digitization and with the revenue growth, there is sufficient proof that the government can decide to finance these services in future. It is generating revenue for the government,” he explained.
Services Exempted from the Paying the Fee
Ayugi said eCitizen has saved the government other costs associated with printing, storage and many other extended costs that used to make government operations expensive.
Further, he revealed that there are essential services that are zero-rated and exempted from the convenience fee.
“There are certain services like university that are zero rated and there is no charge. Education and even in the medical space doesn’t attract convenience fee,’ he said.
He said the fee is levied on only services that needed the individual to travel to access them.
Ruto Launches E-citizen
President William Ruto unveiled the groundbreaking e-Citizen platform on June 30, 2023.
This opened up online access to over 5,000 government services for Kenyan citizens.
Ruto said digitizing government services will increase accountability and ensure that every Kenyan can easily access government services.
