Why Treasury wants eCitizen anchored in law as it invites public views

Treasury CS John Mbadi

The National Treasury has kickstarted the process of entrenching the eCitizen platform in law, formally positioning it as the official government online portal for payment and access to public services.

The government introduced the eCitizen portal in 2014 as a pilot programme to digitise public services, initially offering 41 services to help Kenyans access and pay for government functions such as passport applications online.

Designed to reduce bureaucracy, improve transparency and accountability and deliver cost-effective services through shorter turnaround times and enhanced convenience from home, the platform has since expanded significantly.

By July 2023, over 5,000 government services were accessible through it. Despite this expansion, eCitizen currently operates under Executive Orders and administrative directives, without a dedicated statutory framework governing revenue collection, settlement, and accountability.

The National Treasury now seeks to change this by anchoring the platform in law and formally adopting it as the government’s official online system for payment and service delivery.

This would consolidate public revenue collection channels under eCitizen, a move that could also shield the government from legal disputes, including past challenges by school heads over its use as a mandatory fees payment platform.

In line with Article 10 of the constitution, which requires public participation in policymaking, the Treasury has invited public views on the Draft Public Finance Management (eCitizen System Management) Regulations, 2026.

In a public notice, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the regulations may be revised based on submissions received before finalisation.

Section 12(1)(e) of the Public Finance Management Act empowers the Cabinet Secretary to prescribe regulations for efficient financial management systems across national and county governments, ensuring transparency and standard reporting as provided under Article 226 of the Constitution.

Mbadi said access to government services is central to the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), with eCitizen intended to make services faster, cheaper, more transparent and more accessible, particularly for citizens at the grassroots.

Beyond convenience, he noted that the unified online payment system also supports economic growth by boosting government revenue and strengthening the digital economy.

Payments for government services through the eCitizen paybill number 222222 now attract a Sh100 service charge, framed as a convenience fee.

“Now, pursuant to Section 4(a) and 5(3)(a) and (b) of the Statutory Instruments Act, 2013, the National Treasury & Economic Planning invites members of the public to submit comments, inputs or memoranda they may have on the said draft Public Finance Management (E-Citizen System Management) Regulations, 2026 in the format provided on the website,” the notice reads.

Members of the public may submit views to the Principal Secretary, National Treasury, P.O. Box 30007-00100, Nairobi, or hand-deliver them to the National Treasury Building in Nairobi.

Submissions can also be emailed to [email protected], copied to [email protected], and must be received by May 29, 2026, at 5pm.

“Comments are most helpful if they indicate the specific regulation or group of regulations to which they relate, contain a clear rationale, and, where applicable, provide a suggestion for alternative wording,” Mbadi said.

He added that the draft regulations, the Explanatory Memorandum and the Regulatory Impact Statement have been published on the National Treasury website.

The draft follows the conclusion of work by a multi-agency taskforce comprising officials from the Office of the President, Ministry of Interior and National Administration, Ministry of Information, Communication and Digital Economy, the Office of the Attorney General, and the National Treasury.

As part of the public participation process, Mbadi said a key stakeholders’ meeting will be held on Friday, May 22, 2026, at the National Treasury from 10am, with invitation letters sent to registered stakeholders ahead of the meeting.

In addition, a public consultation forum will take place on May 25, 2026, at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) from 10am.

Mbadi emphasised that all comments, inputs and memoranda submitted by the public will be treated as public records and may be shared with the legislative arm of government.

The push to formalise eCitizen comes against a backdrop of legal and operational concerns.

As currently structured, the platform remains vulnerable to legal challenges due to the absence of a comprehensive statutory framework, concerns over private sector involvement and gaps in data protection compliance.

Audits have shown that the platform’s rapid expansion has outpaced its legal safeguards, with operations largely guided by administrative directives rather than legislation.

The Auditor General previously flagged billions of shillings flowing through private accounts or lacking direct linkage to invoices, prompting scrutiny over the legality of financial handling.

Petitioners, including the Law Society of Kenya and school heads under Kuppet, moved to court and obtained injunctions arguing that the mandatory migration of public services to eCitizen was implemented without adequate public participation.

Although the government maintains it fully owns the platform, questions have persisted over private sector influence and data sovereignty, particularly regarding outsourced revenue collection arrangements.

A special audit further found that no formal Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) had been conducted, exposing the state to potential liability under the Data Protection Act.

In a ruling delivered on November 21, 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision declaring unconstitutional the mandatory use of eCitizen for school fees payments and the associated Sh50 convenience fee.

The appellate court, led by Justice Daniel Musinga, dismissed the government’s bid to suspend the High Court ruling while pursuing an appeal.

The court held that the Ministry of Education failed to conduct adequate public participation and stakeholder engagement before issuing the directive, warning that allowing continued collection of an unconstitutional fee would undermine the rule of law and unfairly burden citizens.

However, the judgment did not invalidate the eCitizen platform itself, but only the mandatory requirement for school fee payments through it and the associated levy.

Despite the ruling, President William Ruto has maintained that the policy requiring parents to pay school fees via eCitizen will not be rolled back.

Speaking during the 2nd National Education Conference at Lake Naivasha Resort in Naivasha, Nakuru county, he urged the leadership of Knut and Kuppet to persuade school principals to adopt the platform.

“Help us,” he said. “Why do you want to continue writing receipts on pieces of paper where nobody traces?”

The President argued that manual fee collection weakens transparency and traceability, noting that paper records are vulnerable to manipulation and can be easily lost in events such as fires.