Osotsi slams Kabogo after damning eCitizen audit
By William Muthama, August 5, 2025Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi has sharply criticised ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo and senior technology officials, accusing them of lacking the expertise to lead Kenya’s digital transformation.
Osotsi was speaking during a Senate session on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, following revelations from a recent Auditor-General report that unearthed irregularities in the management of the eCitizen platform.
“How on earth could you allow a private institution to manage a system that serves the entire country?” Osotsi questioned. “That system is actually the backbone of our e-government.”
The Auditor-General’s report revealed that the government unlawfully collected over Ksh1.8 billion from Kenyans through the eCitizen platform before January 2023, in breach of legal requirements on administrative charges.
A flat fee of Ksh50 or $1 was imposed per transaction instead of a prorated rate, resulting in massive overcharges.
Leadership under scrutiny
Osotsi, a known ICT professional, painted a grim picture of the state of Kenya’s digital leadership. “The people who run ICT matters in this country are clueless. They do not understand this technology, Mr Speaker,” he said, referencing both Cabinet and Principal Secretaries, as well as heads of key institutions like the Communications Authority and ICT Authority.
“In fact, the last serious attempt to ensure we have a proper e-governance platform was during President Kibaki’s time,” he added. “The e-government processes in this country have died.”
He faulted the Ministry of Education’s transition from NEMIS to KEMIS as another example of poor planning masked as reform. “It was just a simple name change. There was nothing major, Mr Speaker, and billions of money have been spent.”
Back to basics
Osotsi warned that unless Kenya changes its approach to ICT governance, the dream of a thriving digital economy will remain elusive. “We are better off if we do not want to apply technology. We go manual, Mr Speaker, instead of wasting taxpayers’ money pretending to be doing technology when we are doing nothing.”
He urged Parliament to hold the ICT Ministry accountable and called for urgent reforms to restore trust in government digital platforms.