ICT Sector Gets Boost from the Government

A total of Sh.6.1 billion has been allocated for the Single Window Support Project, Research Development Fund, Roll out of IFMIS, Development at Konza Techno-polis, Digital Migration (KBC), and for the Presidential Digital Talent Programme.

This was said yesterday by the Cabinet Secretary of Treasury Henry Rotich during the reading of the 2016/2017 National Budget. He said that Kenya has identified Konza Techno City as one of the national flagship projects to position the country as a sustainable world class ICT Hub in the region.

“The government is committed to investing resources as well as providing a conducive environment for the ICT sector to thrive. This will not only improve service delivery but also cut transaction costs and safeguard Government revenue,” Said Rotich

The CS added that a lot of progress has been made including digitalizing Land transaction services, e-registry, business registration, motor vehicle and driver’s license services and services under the registration of persons that include passport, work permits and visa application.

During the previous last Budget Statement all payments to Government were moved onto the digital platform. The objective of the Government Digital Program is to ensure that all payments to Government are made electronically so as to significantly reduce administrative costs, minimize leakages and expand access to payment points. This move has enabled many Kenyans to pay for Government services wherever they are and using payments channels of their choice, thus saving them costs associated with transport and queuing time.

Read: ICT Sector at The Heart of Vision 2030

Rotich disclosed that over 1.7 million Kenyans have already been registered on the eCitizen payment platform, where they are able to access 115 services from different government agencies including some from County Governments.

“To date the platform has processed over 2.4 million applications and collected Sh.4.2 billion in Government revenue. Some of the additional services we shall be bringing on board include assessment and payment of stamp duty, application for Identity Cards, and inspection of Company files,” the CS added.

He stated that the government has instituted an audit whose finding will be used to review the payments architecture. This is so as to assure Kenyans that the system in place is robust and not subject to manipulation and all these will be achieved through working closely with the Ministry of ICT.

The Government too has made strides in enhancing access to and delivery of government services to all Kenyans through the One-Stop-Shop Service centers popularly known as Huduma centers. By January 2016, there were 40 Huduma Centers across the country and the target is that each of the 47 counties in the country will have a Huduma center by the end of the financial year 2016/17.

This one-stop shop service delivery Programme provides channels for different integrated government services to the public including the physical centers, online portal, mobile phone services to citizens and a unified and integrated payment gateway (Huduma card) to facilitate payment for government services. All these developments and innovations go a long way in reducing transaction costs Kenyans and in addition to improve government revenue collection by sealing loopholes.

The government has put in place initiatives such as the presidential digital talent initiative, digital literacy Programme, Kenya Transparency and Communication Infrastructure Programme, County Connectivity Project, Enterprise Kenya, Digital migration and NOFBI phase II that will improve the delivery of Government services.