Despite the High Court declaring the payment of school fees through e-Citizen unconstitutional less than two months ago, President William Ruto has affirmed that the government will not backtrack on ensuring that every institution accepts payments through the digital platform.
During his speech during the 3rd National Executive Retreat on Thursday, June 19, the head of state claimed that he will hold a meeting with all heads of institutions, who have declined to transition to the digital platform, whom he claims are refusing to do so because they have "things to hide."
On the other hand, Ruto has urged parents to take the lead in ensuring that schools follow the government's decision by insisting on using the platform to pay school fees.
According to Ruto, the move to transfer fee payment to the platform not only reflects the government's commitment to embracing the digitisation of its services but will also elevate transparency and accountability in all government institutions.
"There are some institutions that still don't want to pay in E-citizen because they have things to hide. There are some institutions that have taken us to court, and we will be engaging with our primary and secondary school heads, who have refused fee payment on statements," Ruto said.
"They still use exercise books to write their receipts, but we want to tell them that the era of transparency is here. Parents should insist on paying on E-citizen. I want to thank schools that have agreed on payment of school fees through the digital platform because they believe in transparency," he added.
In a circular to parents on January 31, 2024, the then Education Principal Secretary, Belio Kipsang, directed parents and students to pay school fees for all government learning institutions via the eCitizen platform.
Additionally, the circular mandated that all other levies charged by schools were to be directed to the same platform, a move that sparked a wave of controversy among education stakeholders, many of whom claimed they were not involved.
On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, High Court Judge Chacha Mwita ruled in favour of a petition filed by Nakuru-based activist Magare Gikenyi and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), who had challenged the government's directive.
According to the two, the move by the state lacked adequate public participation and stakeholder engagement.
Furthermore, according to the court, the Ksh50 convenience fee imposed on transactions using the digital platform was not legally justified.
"High Court has declared the Ministry of Education's directive on payment of school fees via the eCitizen platform irrational, capricious, unconstitutional, null and void. I was representing LSK in this matter," stated lawyer Omochokoro O'mong'oni, who was representing LSK.
