NAIROBI, KENYA — A potentially precarious situation has emerged surrounding Kenya’s e-Citizen platform, with revelations suggesting the system faces a risk of collapse should the government proceed with terminating its current contractual agreement with the platform’s developers.
Contradicting earlier assurances from high-ranking government officials, newly presented contract documentation before the National Assembly Committee on Security and National Administration indicates that the e-Citizen platform is not wholly owned by the government.
The contract, formalized on May 25, 2023, outlines the terms governing the support and maintenance of the e-Citizen platform. Critically, it grants the private contracting firms—M/S Webmasters Kenya Limited, Pesa Flow Limited, and Olive Tree Media Limited—the explicit right to dismantle the entire system in the event of contract termination, irrespective of the circumstances leading to such termination.
“In the event of termination, howsoever occurring, the Suppliers shall be entitled to rescind, withdraw or otherwise uninstall all their proprietary infrastructure and resources, including all technical infrastructure whether software or otherwise, that may have been deployed in order to enable them to provide their services under this Agreement,” the contract explicitly states.
Furthermore, the agreement absolves the suppliers of any liability arising from contract termination, placing the onus on the government to indemnify them against any subsequent claims, data loss, system downtime, or service unavailability.
These disclosures have ignited significant apprehension within Parliament, prompting two parliamentary committees to initiate investigations into the agreement amidst growing concerns regarding national security and potential financial liabilities.
“It’s very scary from a national security and financial standpoint,” stated Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma. “We’ve tried severally to get answers from the State Department. The former PS insisted E-Citizen is fully government-owned, but the contract says otherwise.”
Lari MP Mburu Kahangara echoed this sentiment, casting doubt on the veracity of previous statements made by government officials regarding the platform’s ownership.
Adding to the mounting concerns, Saku MP and Committee Vice-Chair Dido Raso questioned the legality of the contract’s execution, highlighting the conspicuous absence of a signature from the Principal Secretary for ICT.
“I don’t see any PS signature on this document, yet the PS is the accounting officer. Why are such crucial contracts not properly endorsed?” Raso inquired.
Committee Chair Gabriel Tongoyo sharply criticized the ICT Department for what he alleged was a deliberate attempt to withhold the crucial documents from parliamentary scrutiny. “We’ve been asking for this document for over two months. It seems there was a deliberate attempt to hide the truth, and we won’t take that lightly,” he asserted.
The committee has requested additional time to thoroughly examine the contract documents before summoning Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang to appear for questioning.
