President Willian Ruto unveiled the e-Citizen platform unveiled on Friday.

Kenyans can now access over 5 000 government services online through the e-Citizen platform unveiled on Friday by president Willian Ruto.

Ruto said the e-Citizen platform will enhance service delivery as it eliminates inefficiency, corruption, wastage and discrimination.

With digitisation, the president noted that previously marginalised communities will no longer be excluded from government services.

President Ruto spoke during the unveiling of digital government services dubbed Gava Mkononi at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi.

Ruto said the services will also be available on the e-Citizen platform’s USSD code *2222# and Gava Express.

“Gava Express will be available in more than 250 000 M-Pesa shops, 28 000 KCB shops, 40 000 Equity shops and 22 000 Cooperative Bank shops to serve those without smartphones,” he explained.

He urged Kenyans to take advantage of digital training opportunities provided by the ICT Authority, which targets 20 million people.

The President said the remaining government services, including digital identities, will be digitised in 90 days.

The launch of the e-Citizen platform comes as Kenya is ramping up efforts to grow the ICT sector to increase productivity and competitiveness.

The country has robust measures to ensure the growth of the digital economy.

These include the national ICT policy, the Kenya Start-Up Act, Data Protection Act, the Digital Economy blueprint and the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.

Kenya is also developing the Konza Technopolis project, a large technology hub planned to be built 64 km south of Nairobi on the way to the port city of Mombasa.

The government is marketing the project as the pillar of its development plan, Kenya Vision 2030.

Kenya’s ICT plans have received backing from the World Bank, which recently approved $390 million in funding to amplify the growing digital economy. The monies will finance the first phase of Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration project, which aims to ‘expand access to high-speed internet, improve the quality and delivery of education and selected government services, and build skills for the regional digital economy’.

The World Bank said the Digital Economy Acceleration Project will use a multi-phase programmatic approach with two phases.

Phase one will run from 2023 to 2028, focusing on expanding access to high-speed internet. Phase two of the project will run from 2026 to 2030, concentrating on building a data-driven and secure environment for enhanced digital service delivery and innovation for the regional digital economy.

In addition, the project will also mobilise an estimated $100 million in private capital for broadband infrastructure development.