The Role of the E-citizen Portal in Enhancing Public Service Delivery in Kenya: Perspectives from the Ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy
TL;DR
The study concludes that the e-Citizen portal significantly enhances service delivery, but its full benefits depend on better system reliability, infrastructure and user support.
Abstract
This study explored the role of the e-Citizen portal in enhancing public service delivery at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy (MICDE) in Kenya. Anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model, Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Public Value Theory, the study used a mixed-methods design. The target population was 328 MICDE employees, and a sample of 180 was drawn through proportional stratified sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, and 150 were returned, giving an 83% response rate. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis, with thematic analysis of the qualitative responses. Respondents moderately agreed that the portal made it easier to register businesses (M = 3.30), file taxes (M = 3.39), renew driving licences (M = 3.26) and access services (M = 3.23). Prompt autogenerated responses scored lowest (M = 2.93). Regression results showed a strong positive relationship between the e-Citizen portal and service delivery (R = 0.812; R² = 0.660), indicating that the portal explains 66% of the variation in service delivery. Correlation analysis also showed a significant positive relationship (r = 0.683, p < 0.001). Despite these gains, network failures, system downtime, interrupted transactions and delayed one-time passwords (OTPs) limited user satisfaction. The study concludes that the e-Citizen portal significantly enhances service delivery, but its full benefits depend on better system reliability, infrastructure and user support.