Kalonzo criticises e-Citizen school fees payment

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka. [Standard,File]

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has opposed the government's directive to have school fees paid through digital platform e-Citizen.

Kalonzo said the move is impractical as it did not factor in parents from rural areas.

"How will a parent living in a rural set-up manage to pay school fees through e-Citizen?" the former vice president questioned.

He spoke on Sunday during a Wiper Party recruitment drive in Kajiado, where he was accompanied by former Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.
His remarks came barely a week after the Ministry of Education issued the said direction that required school fees for national schools paid through e-Citizen.

Kalonzo also faulted President William Ruto for his early campaigns, chiding him for neglecting Kenya and pursuing selfish needs.

"They should fulfil the lofty promises they made to Kenyans but instead they are busy campaigning from the top of their vehicles," said Kalonzo in response to Ruto's recent remarks that he was angling up for a contest with the Wiper leader in 2027.

Kalonzo has seemed a frontrunner within Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya, especially amid suggestions that Raila Odinga would not be seeking the presidency a sixth time.

If Kalonzo were to run, he would be doing so a second time after a flopped bid in 2007 when he emerged third behind the late former President Mwau Kibaki and Raila. Since then, he has supported Raila in four subsequent presidential bids. Wamalwa has been touted as a possible running mate, with Kalonzo saying they had good intentions for the country.

But Raila remains active in politics, revamping his Orange Democratic Movement party in readiness for the future.

The Wiper recruitment came days after Azimio resolved to strengthen constituent parties through membership recruitment drives.

"We are united as Azimio and Wiper plans to play it's part in strengthening the coalition. We will go across the country," he said, adding his party would conduct a series if rallies in the near future.

The Wiper leader also waded into Ruto's fight with the Judiciary, warning that he risks plunging the country into anarchy were he to ignore court orders.

"We are either a country under the rule of law or under the rule of the jungle," he stated.