The World Bank has debarred Webmasters Kenya Ltd and its founder James Ayugi from participating in Bank-financed projects for a minimum of five years, following findings of fraudulent and obstructive practices.
The Sanctions Board’s Decision No. 147, issued under Sanctions Case No. 790, runs from June 8, 2026 to June 7, 2031.
Why the ban
The Board found the Respondents had listed two individuals as “experts” in a tender bid document for a project in Somalia financed by the Bank, but those individuals told investigators they had been listed without their knowledge.
Separately, investigators found Ayugi and the company materially impeded the Bank’s inspection and audit rights by failing to meaningfully comply with requests for documents during an audit.The debarment is a “conditional release” sanction — the firm and Ayugi can apply to be released after five years only if they demonstrate compliance with conditions set by the Board.
Importantly, debarment temporarily excludes them from World Bank-financed procurement; it is not a criminal conviction or a general ban on doing business in Kenya.
What Webmasters is known for
Webmasters Kenya is the private firm behind Kenya’s eCitizen platform, having developed and owning the core engine behind the portal — the government’s main digital services platform for public service payments.
Founded and led by Ayugi, the company today operates through a consortium of associated firms — Webmasters Kenya for customer care and technical coordination, Pesaflow for payment processing, and Olive Tree Media for messaging and revenue mobilisation — collectively controlling nearly every layer of eCitizen’s operations.
The company has long been embroiled in controversy over eCitizen’s ownership and control of transaction fees.
It previously subcontracted payment collection to Goldrock Capital, triggering a legal battle with the National Treasury and Safaricom over control of the mobile money wallets receiving eCitizen payments — a dispute that dragged through Kenyan courts for years and drew scrutiny from Parliament and the presidency over who effectively controls Kenya’s digital government infrastructure.
