President Ruto’s directive on eCitizen dealt a major blow

The High Court has suspended President William Ruto’s directive requiring all government institutions to offer services through eCitizen platforms.

At the same time, Justice Bahati Mwamuye on December 10, 2024, issued orders blocking the removal of heads of 34 government entities that failed to operationalise Ruto’s directive.

“Pending the inter partes hearing and determination of the Application dated December 5, 2024, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the implementation and operation of the directive issued on November 28, 2024, compelling the 1st to 34th Interested Parties to compulsorily onboard and/or migrate to the eCitizen Services Platform,” Justice Mwamuye ordered.

This was after the Kituo Cha Sheria filed a case in court, challenging President Ruto’s directive.

The petitioner told the court that Ruto’s directive is illegal, since there was no public participation.

In addition, the petitioners argued that some members of the public are unable to access the government payment services via the eCitizen portal on their own, and therefore face the risk of being exploited by third parties.

Meanwhile, the judge directed Kituo Cha Sheria to serve their application to the attorney general, Treasury SC and PS Immigration who have been listed as respondents in the case.

The case is scheduled for a hearing on January 31, 2025.

President Ruto on November 28, 2024, during the first anniversary of eCitizen at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, warned the agencies’ Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to comply within a week or face consequences.