Economy
Over 7,000 State services on e-Citizen, says Eliud Owalo
Friday September 15 2023
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo makes his remarks at a past event on September 8, 2023. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG
Kenya has placed 7,453 services on its e-Citizen digital platform, even as outages rock State-installed free public Wi-Fi hotspots.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo said in an update that the on-boarded services have surpassed the initial target of 5,000.
He said that an additional 6,817 services were partially digitalised as the government strives to move away from the traditional brick-and-mortar to a paperless public service.
Read: Learn from Nairobi markets Wi-Fi glitch
Among recent agencies to onboard services onto the platform include the Competition Authority of Kenya and the Kenya Ports Authority which made the shifts in February and March respectively.
The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), National Environment Management Authority (Nema), Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) are also expected to automate their services. Others are employers such as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), as well as the Judiciary.
The State is also rolling out the establishment of public internet hotspots as a complimentary service to enable citizens to access the digital portal, with Mr Owalo saying that 461 sites have been set up so far, with the long-term plan being to roll out 25,000 centres across the country.
A Business Daily spot check last month however revealed a disturbing trend of hotspots set up in Nairobi markets being hit by outages for months much to the frustration of the traders and other digital space users.
Read: Kenya starts rollout of 25000 free Wi-Fi hotspots to markets
In response to the concerns, Mr Owalo blamed market associations for reneging on their part of the deal to foot recurrent expenditures such as payment of electricity.
