eCitizen services are back online after a recent disruption, which the platform attributed to an internal network issue affecting its operating system.
In a statement, the government expressed regret over the inconvenience caused and thanked users for their patience and understanding during the outage.
Officials assured the public that the problem has been resolved, with normal operations now restored.
They also emphasized that measures have been put in place to prevent similar disruptions in the future, reaffirming their commitment to delivering reliable and accessible services.
“We are pleased to announce that the technical issue has been successfully addressed, and all services are functioning as expected,” the statement said.
Earlier, thousands of Kenyans were unable to access essential government services through the eCitizen platform, with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) confirming that the payment service had crashed.
As a result, Kenyans were advised to use alternative payment methods, including bank payments and PDQs, to continue their transactions.
This outage led to a significant loss in government revenue as users struggled to access multiple services.
The government had remained silent on the matter for several hours until complaints flooded in from the public.
KRA later issued a statement addressing the issue: “We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with eCitizen Payment Services (222222).
To ensure your payments are processed without delay, please use bank payment options or PDQs. Our technical team is working to resolve the issue and restore services as soon as possible.”
The disruption also affected tourism, as visitors to the Nairobi National Park were left stranded for over two hours due to the payment platform’s malfunction. Unable to pay their entrance fees, tourists were forced to turn back.
The eCitizen platform has become mandatory for all government services and payments, with President William Ruto previously urging heads of parastatals to fully adopt the system.
During the platform’s first anniversary, he expressed concerns that several government agencies, such as Kenya Power Limited (KPLC), the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), and the National Cancer Institute of Kenya, had not yet fully complied with the directive.
Ruto had given these agencies a one-week ultimatum to integrate their services with eCitizen or face consequences.
“These entities must comply with the directive to ensure proper revenue tracking for the government,” he stated.
However, the directive has faced legal challenges. Kituo Cha Sheria, a public interest law firm, filed a petition arguing that the move could violate legal and procedural rights.
As a result, the court issued a suspension of the directive, pending the hearing of the application.
Additionally, Justice Bahati Mwamuye ruled to block any removals of heads of government entities for non-compliance with the directive.
While the eCitizen platform is now operational again, the incident has sparked debate over its implementation and the challenges of fully digitalizing government services in Kenya.
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