The High Court has temporarily suspended the government's recent directive that would require parents and guardians of state school pupils to pay school fees exclusively through the online e-Citizen platform.

READ THE ARTICLE ON THE GOVERNMENT DIRECTIVE HERE

Milimani court judge in Nairobi, Chacha Mwita, issued the interim order following a petition filed by a doctor in Nakuru, alleging accessibility and transparency issues, which were upheld by the judge. "An interim interim protective order is hereby issued suspending the circular or letter of the Principal Secretary (Belio R Kipsang) of the Ministry of Education dated 31 January 2024, requiring parents/guardians and students to pay fees and any other levies for all government educational institutions through the e-citizen platform or any other digital platform until 13 February 2024, when the court will issue further directions on this petition," the judge ruled.

The decision, announced by the Deputy Minister of Education, Belio Kipsang, was designed with the government's aim of bringing together all payments flowing into the government's coffers, into one platform with a single 'paybill' number, 222222. The transfer of digital competences has already taken place with the entrance to the national parks, with the licence services and with those of the tax office. The intention is noble, to stop the dispersion of funds and rampant corruption in the offices of the various institutions.
In the case of schools, however, as we have already explained, the process is certainly more complicated, as it involves communities and families that cannot always access the internet and cannot afford a smartphone. For this reason, the ministry had announced that schools would be able to make themselves available to parents, but this is clearly where issues of 'transparency' would come in.