The latest ruling has created a major legal and administrative challenge for the government, which has been pushing to streamline public payments through digital systems.
After months of uncertainty, the Court of Appeal has firmly decided that the earlier High Court judgment declaring mandatory school fees payment through the eCitizen platform unconstitutional must stand, at least for now.
This means the government must continue complying with the High Court’s directives as it prepares its intended appeal.
The matter began when the High Court, under Justice Chacha Mwita, struck down a Ministry of Education circular that had ordered all parents and guardians to pay school fees through eCitizen. The judge ruled that the directive had no legal basis and lacked public participation, which is required when introducing changes affecting millions of citizens.
The court also outlawed the Ksh.50 convenience fee charged on every transaction, calling it an illegal and discriminatory levy imposed without the necessary legal framework. This decision immediately stopped the government from enforcing both the directive and the fee.Hoping to keep its system running as it pursued an appeal, the government moved to the Court of Appeal seeking to suspend the High Court ruling.
Through Treasury Principal Secretary Dr. Chris Kiptoo, the State argued that the intended appeal raised serious legal issues. One of the key concerns was the High Court’s reliance on Auditor General reports, as well as the finding that the eCitizen platform lacked a clearly defined ownership structure.
The government insisted that the platform is entirely State-owned and that the convenience fee is a legitimate service charge needed to sustain more than 15,000 digital services available on the portal.
Officials warned that without the fee, the system risked collapsing or facing operational challenges because it relies on such charges to cover maintenance and contractual obligations.
However, the respondents in the case strongly opposed the stay request. Petitioner Dr. Magare Gikenyi, the Law Society of Kenya, and KUPPET all argued that the government was acting in bad faith by continuing to charge the convenience fee even after it had been declared illegal.
They said the State had failed to show how it would suffer any irreversible damage and maintained that the public interest demanded that citizens should not be subjected to charges the court had invalidated.
The Court of Appeal agreed with the respondents, noting that the government had not met the required legal tests to justify granting a stay.
The judges held that the High Court decision was well-supported by constitutional principles, especially the need for legality, public participation, and fair treatment.
They also stressed that suspending the ruling would allow the continued collection of an unlawful fee from the public, which the court could not permit. As a result, the government must now operate within the High Court’s orders.
Parents cannot be forced to use eCitizen to pay school fees, the Ksh.50 convenience fee cannot be imposed, and the judgment remains fully in force as the appeal process continues.
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