President William Ruto Wednesday declared that all school fees must be paid through the digital platform, e-Citizen explaining that this development was unstoppable.

He said the digital platform, 222222, was a transparent and accountable way of ensuring school principals do not introduce illegal fees to overburden parents.

Speaking on a day the High Court in Nairobi temporarily stopped the use of the platform, the President insisted that the government is determined to ensure the digitisation of government services.

President Ruto was addressing Kenyans residing in Japan during his state visit.

“You may have heard the latest about school fees in Kenya. Some of the money paid by parents in boarding schools, we are insisting that it be paid through e-Citizen,” Ruto said.

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He said ⁠the new policy that requires school fees be paid through e-Citizen, the government’s digital platform, will eliminate illegal levies charged by certain schools. “Because we realise there are illegal levies charged by the Board of Management of Schools that are prone to abuse, we want to reduce and eventually end them,” Ruto said.

He added, “The cash payments system is slippery and often an avenue for corruption. Technology will help us eliminate this,” he said.

He ⁠reiterated that the gains made in the last year are immense and should not be wished away. He noted that the reduction of more than 3,000 pay bills in government to one has helped eliminate theft. “When I came into office, it was not possible to pay for any government service with a credit card or any mechanism rather than a cash system. Now we have gone completely the opposite,” he said.

“For purposes of accountability, transparency and tracing of records it will be the norm not to pay in cash.”

The government’s decision that school fees be paid through e-citizen was first communicated to all principals in National schools by Principal Secretary, Basic Education, Belio Kipsang on January 31. The principals were to submit bank accounts so that parents could pay boarding fees through the government digital platform.

Ruto added that Kenyans in the diaspora can also transact government business through e-Citizen and pay for electricity and water bills from the comfort of their homes. He said the government is creating opportunities for skilled youth both locally and abroad.

“We are spending about Sh650 billion every year to educate learners from primary to universities to ensure they access education. It is therefore important to spend that money to do the right thing. We must figure out how these huge resources can be monitored,” he added.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) in Trans Nzoia has raised concern over the Ministry of Education directive to national schools to pay fees through the e-Citizen platform.

Kuppet Trans Nzoia chairperson Eliud Wafula urged the ministry to reconsider the decision and call for dialogue with stakeholders to find alternative solutions.

Wafula said the ministry would have considered implementing the programme in universities and technical institutes which handle huge sums of money.

He argued that teachers already have heavy workload and the responsibility of managing online fee payments will overburden them and take them away from their core duty of teaching.

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“It’s not proper for the principal to be reduced to only handling the students and not the resources,” said Wafula.

He said most schools in rural areas do not have reliable internet and it will be difficult for parents and guardians to make online payments which could disenfranchise many students.

“This directive has been issued without proper consultation with stakeholders, particularly school administrators and teachers. It disregards the unique realities of different schools and could create unnecessary logistical hurdles that hinder smooth learning operations,” stated Wafula.

Wafula noted that the e-Citizen platform has a history of technical glitches and downtime. “What happens if parents are unable to make payments due to such issues? Will students be denied access to education?” He posed.

The Kuppet official said parents and guardians should be given various payment options, including mobile money, cash deposits at designated locations, and online payments for those with access.

“Not everyone, especially older parents or those from marginalized communities, is comfortable with digital transactions. The government needs to address the digital literacy gap before implementing such a sweeping mandate,” he said.

“Concerted efforts are needed to bridge the digital divide by expanding internet access and promoting digital literacy, especially in rural areas,” he added.

Wafula urged the government to invest in training teachers and school administrators on how to use the e-Citizen platform.

It will now be mandatory for parents and guardians to pay school fees through e-citizen.

This is after the Ministry of Education issued a directive mandating parents or guardians with learners in national schools to use the eCitizen platform for fee payments. Reliable sources from the ministry of education, who sought anonymity, have confirmed that extra county schools and county schools will follow soon, with sub-county schools being the last to be incorporated into e-citizen.

This aligns with the government’s initiative to streamline payment processes under the common pay bill number 222222.

In a circular addressed to all principals of national schools on January 31, 2024 , Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang instructed the submission of the institution’s bank account details to facilitate the onboarding process.

“The directorate of e-Citizen, in collaboration with the Information Communication Technology Authority (ICTA), Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy, and the National Treasury, is coordinating the onboarding of all government services onto the eCitizen platform to enhance service delivery, ” reads the statement.

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To ensure compliance, parents and guardians are directed to make fee payments through the eCitizen platform.

Principals have been asked to furnish key financial information to the office of the Director General, State Department for Basic Education, by February 6, 2024.

The government will subsequently provide guidance on the school fee payment process once all bank account details are collected.

To meet this directive’s objective, it is crucial that the required information reaches the Office of the Director General by the specified deadline. Submissions should be made via email to [email protected], with a copy sent to [email protected].

This initiative aims to expand the user base of eCitizen, attracting new users in addition to the existing 11 million who utilize the service daily.

In June 2023, President William Ruto directed the consolidation of pay bills to curb corruption tendencies linked to physical interactions in government offices.