President William Ruto has said the government will not roll back on the policy directive requiring parents to pay school fees via eCitizen.
eCitizen is a unified portal adopted as the official payment platform for government services without physical office visits, aimed at enhancing transparency, reducing bureaucracy and curbing corruption.
Ruto directed schools to start using the platform for fee payments on January 31, 2024, with principals ordered to submit school bank details to the State Department of Basic Education by February 6, 2024.
The move is designed to eliminate illegal levies, improve accountability and curb fraudulent activities in schools.
Speaking on Thursday during the 2nd National Education Conference at the Lake Naivasha Resort in Naivasha, Nakuru County, Ruto said some school principals moved to court to challenge the policy directive.
He said the move is a drawback on ongoing reforms in the education sector, urging leaders of teacher unions to support implementation of the directive.
“We have some head teachers who have taken us to court; they do not want parents to pay school fees on eCitizen; they want to continue writing receipts. Why?” he posed.
President William Ruto addressing the 2nd National Education Conference at the Lake Naivasha Resort in Naivasha, Nakuru county, May 7, 2026. /PCSSchools, particularly in rural areas, often accept fees in kind, such as maize or beans, which cannot be processed via the digital eCitizen platform.
Concerns were also raised regarding the ability of parents in rural areas with limited access to digital services to use the platform.
The principals further raised concerns about the logistics of centralising funds and potential delays in having the money disbursed from the government platform back to schools, which could cripple operations.
The directive was ultimately deemed unconstitutional by the High Court in April 2025 due to a lack of public participation.
The court found the mandatory Sh50 service charge, which has since been raised to Sh100, was illegal and amounted to an “unfair administrative action”.
The government appealed the ruling, maintaining that the platform is essential for tracking and managing public funds.
However, on November 21, 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld the ban on mandatory eCitizen payments.
Ruto appealed to the leadership of Knut and Kuppet to prevail upon school principals and convince them to adopt the use of the eCitizen platform.
“Mtusaidie (help us)”, he said. “Why do you want to continue writing receipts on pieces of paper where nobody traces?”
The President argued that manual payment of school fees diminishes traceability and transparency, as paper records are vulnerable to manipulation and loss in the event of disasters such as fires.
He added that eCitizen saves parents the hassle of having to travel long distances to schools to physically pay the fees.
“Today, parents should be able to pay fees from the comfort of their homes on eCitizen, where we can verify the data. I have made a strategic decision that we do not want to deal in cash in this administration because cash is very sticky.”
Currently, over 5,000 government services — including passport applications, business registration, driving licences and tax payments — are accessed via eCitizen.
During the appeal, the government defended the Sh50 convenience fee, which the court outlawed, terming it discriminatory, lacking legal basis and imposed without public participation.
In the stay application, the National Treasury warned that unless the High Court decision was suspended, the government risked plunging more than 15,000 digital services into operational paralysis.
It said the platform is designed to be self-sustaining and relies on convenience fees to meet maintenance and contractual obligations.
The respondents, comprising school heads under Kuppet, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Dr Magare Gikenyi, fiercely opposed the application.
They argued that the court judgement did not invalidate the eCitizen system itself but only outlawed the levy.
They accused the government of acting in bad faith by continuing to levy the quashed fee despite the High Court’s orders.
In rejecting the application, the Court of Appeal held that the government had not satisfied the requirements for a stay by proving that its appeal would be rendered nugatory in the absence of a stay order.
The appellate judges said reversing the High Court ruling would sanction the continued collection of an illegal fee from members of the public.
The dismissal of the stay application means the High Court orders remain in full effect, and the government cannot compel schools to exclusively accept payment of school fees through eCitizen unless the court rules otherwise on appeal.
