Marriage certificates, new number plates among over 5,000 gov't services availabe online - PS Bitok

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok says marriage certificates and new number plates are among over 5,000 government services available on the e-Citizen platform.

Speaking on Friday in Nakuru when he closed a workshop on the digitalization of services by National and County Governments, the PS said 5,318 services can now be accessed via mobile phones with the government targeting a doubling of the figure by the middle of the year.

“One of the examples of services that have gone digital is marriages. If you want to get married, you can now apply for a marriage certificate from the comforts of your phone where you apply online, go for interviews and get your marriage certificate online,” Prof Bitok said at 

The 3-week meeting, which also involved onboarding the services on the e-citizen platform, was also attended by digital services platforms providers and telecommunication firms led by Safaricom.

While citing convenience as one of the key benefits of digitization, Prof. Bitok noted that the e-Citizen platform will also provide comparatively cheaper services by cutting out travel and time spent on physical visits to government offices.

“One of the key benefits of digitization is that it reduces the cost of services to citizens by the government. For example, instead of taking a matatu from point A to point B and paying 200 to go and the same amount to come back to get services, you can now access the services from the convenience of your phone,” said the PS.

The Government is also hoping the digitization drive will increase the around Ksh.80 million daily eCitizen revenue collection by more than ten times to hit Ksh.1 billion daily.

President William Ruto had directed the directorate of e-Citizens under the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services to ensure more than 5,000 services were digitalised to ease access to government services.