The government has suffered a major blow after the High Court suspended the implementation and operation of the directives given by the president compelling the government institutions to compulsory onboard and migrate to e-citizen services.
On releasing the orders, the High Court judge Justice Bahati Mwamuye stated that a “conservatory order is hereby be and is hereby issued suspending the implementation and operation of the directives issued by the president of the Republic of Kenya on November 28, 2024.”
The petition which was filed under the certificate of urgency by Kituo cha Sheria was supported by the affidavit of Hillary Mokaya who is the first petitioner seeking orders restraining the implementation of the directive issued by the president until the matter is heard and determined.
They sued the Attorney General, Cabinet Secretary of National Treasury and Economic Planning and Principal Secretary of Immigration and Citizen Services.
On the said dates, President William Ruto issued directives to all Chief Executive Officers of various institutions to onboard on the e-citizen payment platform within a period of one week.
The directives were issued during the first anniversary of the e-citizen Directorate at the Kenya Intervention Convention Center KICC indicating that failure to comply would result in all CEOs losing their jobs.
In his speech, the president criticized the decision by the CEOs to bypass the e-citizen platforms and use alternative payment methods which he claimed to undermine accountability and facilitate corruption.
The president alleged that the heads of those institutions were being dodgy by his directive aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability in government operations by ensuring all services and revenue payments are processed through the e-citizen platforms.
The applicant indicated that the president in this country has a history of CEOs being arbitrarily fired since the tenure of the first president and this has continued through successive administrations undermining the security of tenure and the principles of fair administrative actions.
The petitioners are complaining about the unlawful acts and omission by the respondents by issuing illegal directives that compel the interested parties to be onboarded on the e-citizen payment platforms.
The respondents are accused of acting beyond the bounds of the law and also issuing unlawful directives without legal proper authority or in a manner inconsistent with statutory requirements.
The president issued and imposed a one-week deadline for compliance which is unreasonable and unlawful and stated that the directives were issued without inviting the public to submit their views about the matter before making such directives.
He threatened the CEOs with job loss for non-compliance which constitutes an abuse of power and undermining the tenure of public officers.
The applicants urged the court to intervene and issue the status quo “pending further orders of the court or the hearing of the petition.
The matter was scheduled for mention on January 31, 2025, for the highlight of the written submissions.