Music copyrights and royalties to be paid through eCitizen - Moses Kuria

This he said on Sunday through his X account, where he intimated that the government is seeking to make amendments to the Copyright Act "to create a government-run Collective Management Organisation."

"Our artists will be individually registered. They can view online how much money is collected. Siku 40 za wezi wa jasho ya artists zimeisha," Kuria added.

This comes in the wake of a heightened contention over having government services on eCitizen, as the High Court in Nairobi temporarily halted a directive ordering parents to pay school fees via the platform.

This followed a petition filed by Nakuru doctor Magare Gikenyi, who moved to court to challenge the initiative which he termed as illegal, arguing that it violated the principles of good governance.

Milimani Law Courts Judge Chacha Mwita suspended the circular by Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang pending further directions to be issued in the case on February 13, 2024.

A memo to all national school principals dated January 31, 2024, and signed by PS Kipsang directed institution heads to share school bank account details with the office of the State Department's Director General by Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

This, the PS said, was part of the government’s efforts to onboard all government services onto the e-Citizen platform to enhance service delivery.

It follows a directive given by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u that all government services would be onboarded on the eCitizen platform and every service will have access fees effective December 14, 2023.

Several Kenyan universities have also implemented payment for cafeteria services through the same platform.