Activist Okiya Omtatah wants the Treasury compelled to regularise the procurement from private service providers of digital payments options for eCitizen.
According to Mr Omtatah, the Treasury had through a gazette notice dated December 23, 2014 notified the public that the eCitizen.go.ke portal would charge a nominal administrative fee per transaction, which would be a pro-rated percentage of the payment made.
However, he said, the portal charges a flat fee of Sh50 per transaction, irrespective of the amounts involved, and above transaction costs billed by eCitizen service providers.
Activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court challenging the use of digital payment platform eCitizen, arguing that it was single-sourced contrary to procurement laws.
In a case filed before the constitutional division of the High Court, Omtatah wants the Treasury compelled to regularise the procurement from private service providers of digital payments options for eCitizen.
According to Mr Omtatah, the Treasury had through a gazette notice dated December 23, 2014 notified the public that the eCitizen.go.ke portal would charge a nominal administrative fee per transaction, which would be a pro-rated percentage of the payment made.
The eCitizen portal is the official digital payment platform of the government, which enables Kenyans to pay for and access government services. However, he said, the portal charges a flat fee of Sh50 per transaction, irrespective of the amounts involved, and above transaction costs billed by eCitizen service providers.
He said the administrative fee billed over and above the transaction fees is way above the market rate and was set without market survey as required by Section 54 (2) of the Public Procurement Act.
Mr Omtatah said the Treasury cabinet secretary had never demonstrated whether the funds collected through the portal were, as required, being deposited into the Consolidated Fund. He said the court should intervene and protect the public from being “ripped off on the eCitizen portal”.
“Whereas the collection of any funds for and on behalf of a government entity has to be through authorised and designated collectors of government revenue, the respondent has not gazetted M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Visa Card, MasterCard, EazzyPay, E-Agent, KCB Cash, and Equity Cash, the digital payment options on eCitizen, as authorised revenue collectors for and on behalf of the government,” he said.
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