The e-citizen problems are spreading.

The e-citizen problems are spreading. The e-citizen disaster in Kenya affects several critical issues surrounding the digital government platform e-Citizen, which provides access to over 5,000 government services, including passports, identity cards, driver's licenses, permits, business registrations, and more. Key points of the e-citizen disaster: There was a cyberattack (2023). In July 2023, the e-citizen portal fell victim to a massive cyberattack, specifically a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack reportedly carried out by the Sudanese hacker group "Anonymous Sudan." The attack disrupted access to key government services such as passport applications, visas, and other services. Although the government stated that no data was compromised or lost, the disruption forced the government to issue visas on arrival to foreigners and led to service disruptions in departments such as the National Transport Security Authority and Kenya Railways. Then came the massive financial scandal (2025). This has been reported several times. In 2025, a shocking financial scandal occurred in which billions of Kenyan shillings collected through the e-Citizen platform were missing or unaccounted for. According to audit reports and investigations: Approximately KSh 44.8 billion collected through e-Citizen was reported missing, sparking public outrage and deep distrust. A special audit uncovered irregular transactions worth KSh 11 billion, highlighting fraud, embezzlement, and revenue leakage through the platform. There were also problems such as excessive fees and fictitious payments. Despite government claims of control, the platform's operations were partially run by third parties, particularly Web Masters Limited, raising concerns about oversight and misuse of public data. The government was criticized for a lack of transparency and the silence of senior officials, including President William Ruto, on the matter. The Public Accounts Committee called for the platform's closure following these revelations. And the platform was shut down. Anyone applying for a visa, i.e., an extension of an expired visa, waits for a response, which never arrives. There's no message from immigration either. They play deaf and blind. The applicant has to go to immigration in person, and then suddenly everything works. The applicant has to go to a cyber counter and print two files. Applicants used to be able to pay by credit card, but that's no longer possible. They have to go to a bank and deposit money there. Concerns about governance and security. I have those too, and not a few of them. The platform's administration is spread across multiple ministries and not centralized. The government has admitted that it does not fully control the system and does not receive adequate reports from the platform, making accountability difficult. Security vulnerabilities were revealed in both the hacking and the financial irregularities. The scandal raises serious questions about Kenya's digital governance and corruption controls on its leading digital service platform. The e-Citizen disaster in Kenya thus combines a serious cybersecurity breach with a serious financial corruption scandal. This resulted in widespread service disruptions, massive losses of public funds, and a crisis of confidence in the government's digital transformation initiatives. The scandal continues, and parliamentary investigations and calls for accountability continue. At the moment, e-citizen is completely shut down. Nothing works anymore. William Rutom, the President of Kenya, sees digitalization as key to Kenya's economic development. His government is committed to infrastructure, e-government, and digital innovation, but still has several hurdles to overcome to implement its goals across the board. As anyone can see here, he has failed. It's not just the e-citizen platform that's malfunctioning. Digitization in Kenya is not well understood. Data must be entered into a computer form, and once it's approved, it must be printed out and presented. The same applies to the "excellent" eTA (electronic travel authorization). Every person entering Kenya needs it. The immigration officer doesn't know the eTA number and has to copy it from the printed eTA form they bring with them. In short, Kenyans don't understand what digitization means. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenyan-gov-t-says-its-e-citizen-portal-suffered-cyberattack/2956271 https://allafrica.com/stories/202507240508.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EomBkn9fnck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmBIt1IBj44 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66337573 https://www.bbc.com/news/wo rld-africa-66337573 https://nation.africa/kenya/news/e-citizen-flaws-exposed-sh9bn-lost-sh2-5bn-illegally-collected-5144778 https://rtcnews.africa/kenyas-ecitizen-scandal-billions-looted-trust-betrayed-in-digital-disaster/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSvancsMz2c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdPYjl4jAOY