William Ruto
The High Court has suspended the Ministry of Education’s directive requiring payment of fees and other levies in public schools to be done through e-Citizen.
Justice Chacha Mwita issued the interim orders on Wednesday, February 7 following a petition filed by Dr. Magare Gikenyi.
“That an interim conservatory order is hereby issued suspending the Circular or letter by the Principal Secretary (Belio R Kipsang), Ministry of Education dated 31st January 2024, requiring parents/Guardians and or students to pay fees and or any other levies for all government learning institutions through e-citizen platform or any other Digital platform(s) until 13th February 2024, when the court will issue further directions in this petition,” Justice Mwita ruled.
Gikenyi moved to court challenging the directive, saying the decision was made without public participation and without following legal and constitutional safeguards.
Dr. Gikenyi noted that while bringing services closer together is a positive thing, the required nature of its implementation without public participation is unreasonable and nonsensical.
The ruling comes after President Ruto said payment of school fees through the eCitizen platform is unstoppable.
The Head of State who was speaking in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday Ruto vowed to crush any resistance from cartels.
“You may have heard the latest about school fees in Kenya, or money paid by parents for example in boarding schools. We provide resources for learning in all our primary and secondary schools through what parents pay,” Ruto stated.
He added, “We are insisting because we realised there are illegal levies charged by the board of management of schools that go into accounts that nobody knows, we have insisted that all monies charged to Kenyans must be transparent.”
Education PS Belio Kipsang on January 31 directed all National schools to submit their banking details to the Ministry to facilitate the payment of fees through the eCitizen platform by February 6, 2024.
