Kenya's flagship digital government platform, E-Citizen, diverted at least Sh6.3 billion ($40 million) to unauthorized private accounts, according to an Auditor General's special audit covering 2021-2024, raising fresh questions about whether digitization is enabling or preventing corruption.
The missing funds flowed through an undisclosed account at Equity Bank controlled by Pesaflow Limited, a payment gateway company that was never approved by the National Treasury to handle government revenue. The account received deposits totaling "Sh68,719,877 and $48,142,844 (Sh6.2 billion)" irregularly, according to The Standard.
Total potential losses could reach Sh9.4 billion ($60 million).
The timing could not be worse. President William Ruto's government is pushing aggressive new taxes, including a controversial levy on remittances from Kenyans abroad – the same Kenyans whose families now learn that $40 million in tax revenue vanished into private pockets.
"It's like we are not angry enough," one Kenyan wrote on the popular Kenya subreddit, capturing the exhaustion many feel watching public funds disappear while ordinary citizens face mounting tax pressure.
Business registration records identify Pesaflow's shareholders as Frank Lawrence Ochieng Weya (15,000 shares), Charles Wambani Sewe (10,000 shares), Evid Araka Sibi (10,000 shares), and Larry Ochieng Agoro (10,000 shares). The company operated alongside several entities with questionable legal status, including Electronic Citizen Solutions Ltd and Goldrock Capital Ltd, which appear to be non-existent.
Additionally, the government was charged approximately for payment gateway services it shouldn't have paid for – money that should have been covered under the E-Citizen contract.
