NAIROBI, Kenya July 24 – As Kenyans reel underneath financial hardship, President William Ruto’s silence on the e-citizen multi-billion-shilling scandal sparks outrage and deepens distrust.
At a time when tens of millions of Kenyans are barely making ends meet, battling the excessive price of dwelling, joblessness, and relentless tax hikes, a chilling revelation has gripped the nation: Sh44.8 billion collected by way of the federal government’s e-Citizen portal is lacking.
Even extra deafening than the numbers is the silence of President Ruto.
The self-proclaimed champion of a “digital authorities” and a “ruthless struggle on corruption” President Ruto has not uttered a single phrase because the scandal broke throughout a Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) listening to this week.
And for a lot of Kenyans, that silence speaks volumes.
Since taking workplace, President Ruto has fought laborious to shake off the rising public notion that his administration is riddled with corruption.
From inflated tenders and shady contracts to questionable appointments, the whispers have turn into louder, and the indicators tougher to disregard.
Now, as Sh44.8 billion disappears into the digital ether of e-Citizen, a system central to his digitization legacy, the President’s inaction is elevating uncomfortable questions:
Why the silence? Why isn’t this scandal being handled as a nationwide emergency? And the place are the swift arrests and in a single day investigations that usually greet opposition voices and authorities critics?
The e-Citizen platform, designed to streamline entry to over 16,000 authorities providers, has as an alternative uncovered a gaping accountability black gap.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu advised MPs that income from not less than 34 marriage registration centres is both lacking or fully unaccounted for.
Some stories weren’t filed. Some funds have been by no means traced. And nonetheless, there was no quick response from legislation enforcement.
Not a phrase from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). No motion from the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC). Not even a press release from the President’s personal communications group. The silence from all corners of presidency is deafening.
This is similar administration the place protesters are tracked and arrested inside hours.
Where vocal critics are sometimes branded as terrorists. Yet when Sh44.8 billion quietly vanishes, your entire authorities appears to shrug.
Even extra troubling is the admission that the federal government doesn’t absolutely management the e-Citizen system.
Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose shocked the PAC by confirming that his workplace doesn’t obtain any stories from the platform.
The system, he admitted, is essentially run by unnamed third-party distributors.
In brief, billions are shifting day by day by way of a system the federal government barely understands and seemingly doesn’t wish to.
On the streets and on-line, Kenyans usually are not fooled. The similar authorities that lectures residents on paying taxes and tight budgets can’t account for billions.
The similar leaders who preach austerity proceed to journey in convoys whereas asking hustlers to “tighten belts.”
“If this isn’t theft, what’s?” one consumer posted on X (previously Twitter). “And why is Ruto quiet except the path results in his doorstep?”
Beyond the figures, the scandal has reopened deep wounds about belief in public establishments.
It has uncovered simply how shortly authorities motion stalls when the accused usually are not activists, opposition leaders, or road protesters however probably insiders with privileged entry.
But even now, Kenyans usually are not simply asking for headlines. They are demanding solutions.
Who is absolutely in control of e-Citizen? Who profited from the billions that vanished with no hint? And extra importantly, who will likely be held accountable for this large betrayal of public belief?
For President Ruto, the second of reckoning is right here.
Is his anti-corruption struggle actual or only a well-rehearsed speech? Will he confront this scandal head-on or bury it in silence like so many earlier than?
And extra importantly: Who will rise up for the atypical Kenyan footing the invoice for a system that’s now robbing them blind?
Until there are solutions and motion the silence will solely develop louder. And so will the anger.
