NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 24 – High automation costs, weak internet connectivity, legal gaps and rising cybersecurity threats are slowing county governments’ transition to fully digital systems, a new rapid assessment under the Kenya Vision 2030 monitoring framework has revealed.
The report shows that while several counties have made progress in digitising services and automating revenue collection, structural barriers continue to undermine uniform transformation across the 47 devolved units.
Setting up automated systems—including servers, software platforms and staff training—requires substantial capital investment, which many counties struggle to raise amid budget constraints and rising recurrent expenditure.
Limited internet penetration, especially in rural and remote regions, further restricts access to e-government services. The report also flags digital illiteracy and lack of access to internet-enabled devices as factors locking out sections of the population from online public services.
Cybersecurity vulnerabilities are emerging as a major concern, with digital platforms exposed to hacking, data breaches and potential disruption of financial and citizen data systems.
Additionally, the assessment highlights the absence of binding legal frameworks compelling counties to automate essential services, resulting in inconsistencies in implementation.
“Counties performing strongly in automation and citizen experience tend to achieve higher overall scores,” the report notes, adding that balanced investment across digitisation, revenue integrity, innovation and employment creation is critical for sustained transformation.
The ranking placed Murang’a County at the top with a score of 98.3 percent, followed by Nakuru, Kiambu and Kisumu counties.
At the lower end of the performance scale were Baringo, Marsabit, Tana River, West Pokot, Garissa and Wajir counties.
The findings suggest that without coordinated policy direction, infrastructure investment and stronger governance frameworks, county-level digital transformation risks remaining uneven despite isolated gains.
