The purpose of this study is to understand how sociotechnical factors shape the development of electronic government payment portal in developing countries. E-Government research on payment has focused more on post development phases such as adoption, implementation and use. As a result, little is known about the development phases. To address this research gap, this study focuses on the design and development of an electronic government payment portal in a developing economy. The study employs dialectic process theory as an analytical lens and qualitative interpretive case study as methodology. Findings show that social challenges such as a contradictory requirements of stakeholders, frequent interferences with the development process and technical challenges such as lack of consensus on development tools, lack of relevant ICT skills in the public sector and the use of a rigid software development methodology influenced the development process. The conclusion offers implication for research, practice and policy as well as recommendations for future research.