PS Belio Kipsang explains why govt charges convenience fee on eCitizen
Principal Secretary of Immigration and e-Citizen Belio Kipsang has addressed questions behind the convenience fee Kenyans are charged to access various government services on the e-Citizen.
The PS, in an interview on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, with a local media house, Kipsang revealed that the convenience fee on eCitizen is for maintenance and to facilitate the smooth day-to-day running of the platform.
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“Just like any huge machinery, like the one eCitizen uses, such machinery does so much work of up to five hundred thousand visits in a day, so for it to be able to continue providing good service, it requires maintenance,” Kipsang said.
Also watch: Auditor General flags Ksh1.8B eCitizen funds as illegal
The PS argues that just like any other machinery, the government needs to update eCitizen machines, as it requires them to be up-to-date in terms of technology and protection.
“The machines require updating; they require it to be up-to-date in terms of technology and in terms of protection,” Belio said.
eCitizen convenience fee
He further revealed that the government charges a convenience fee, which is prorated to a maximum of fifty shillings, and it is prorated all the way down to almost ten shillings.
“We charge a convenience fee, which is prorated to a maximum of fifty shillings, and it is prorated all the way down to almost ten shillings.”
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The PS further reiterated the reasons Kenyans are expected to pay the convenience fee, as it is not about the individual; rather, it is about making sure that the individual continuously gets that service by ensuring that the service is available.
“So the convenience fee that we charge really is not about the individual; it is about making sure that individual continuously gets that service by ensuring that the service is available and that the system is up-to-date every day in terms of technology,” Kipsang said.
Auditor report on eCitizen
Belio Kipsang’s remarks come just a month after the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu flagged accountability and transparency gaps within the government’s eCitizen digital payment platform, pointing to potential misuse of billions of shillings and raising alarm over service delivery failures in key government agencies.
In a March 2025 audit report for the platform’s operations in the financial year ending June 30, 2024, the Auditor-General points out over Ksh 9.6 billion in questionable transactions and poor oversight involving financial service providers and government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
At the time, according to the report, the National Treasury had not signed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with financial service providers responsible for collecting and settling payments through the eCitizen portal.
