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{
    "id": 1478419,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1478419/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 69,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mbadi",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to begin by saying that it is really refreshing to be back here wearing a different cap. You may recall that we spent a better part of the Tenth Parliament in this Chamber as the other one was being renovated. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to register my apology. Last time I was supposed to appear in the Senate, I got engaged. Therefore, I did not appear. I was prepared to come and answer questions on that day when in the evening His Excellency the President gave me the nod to meet the World Bank team led by the Vice-President of the World Bank. They had a few hours left before leaving the country. That is why I wrote a letter late to request that my appearance be rescheduled to another date. It was in no way trying to undermine the responsibility of this House in terms of discharging its mandate as an oversight institution. I have been around here for 17 years and I know the value of the two Houses in oversighting the Executive. I would not have done anything to the contrary. In fact, two days before the scheduled date, I appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance and Budget on a matter touching on my Ministry. After that, I again appeared before the Senate Committee on Roads and Transport to answer questions relating to issues touching on my Ministry. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having said that, allow me now to respond to Question No.021 by the Senator for Nairobi City County, Sen. Edwin Sifuna, who asked me to address three pertinent issues relating to the e-Citizen digital platform. I will also answer the other questions, but it is Question No.021 that I want to respond to now. The Senator wanted to know what occasioned the failure by the e-Citizen digital platform to process and reflect payments made to some institutions such as the NHIF and the Cabinet Secretary should also explain steps taken to remedy the situation. This is my response: Payments to the e-Citizen platform are made in designated and defined format. The format is defined in the system. Therefore, for any payment to succeed, it needs to follow the format expected by the system. For instance, if an NHIF member is paying for their monthly contribution and the national identification (ID) number is, for example, 11223344, then the payment format to be keyed into the system will be NHIFM- 11223344. Any payment which does not conform to this format will definitely be unsuccessful. Therefore, it is important for any person making any payment to follow the prescribed format so that the payment is successful in the platform. As part of the adoption, we always insist that any Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) on the e-Citizen platform should train and sensitise its members or customers on the procedure of making payments on the e-Citizen platform. The National Treasury is working with MDAs to create awareness, literacy on use of digital services and sensitise the public on the use and adoption of the e-Citizen digital platform. This is an ongoing exercise where periodic trainings and sensitisation programmes are being conducted. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}