City Hall Extends JamboPay Contract

Nairobi County government has extended JamboPay Contract by one month in bid to avoid financial crisis at City Hall.

The county extended the revenue collector’s contract on Friday. It was to expire yesterday. The county risked losing at least Sh80 million per day with the expiry. It had not put in place an alternative system to take over.

However, reports indicate that, the county had not put in place an alternative system, informing the Friday extension.

According to local media reports, the firm informed City Hall on Tuesday that it would disable its system on Sunday night. A move that would have seen disruption of crucial services at City Hall.

“At that time, WebTribe (JamboPay) will be unable to carry out any transactions for the county. For the avoidance of doubt, all services including, but not limited to, payments and enforcement, will be disabled after April 7, 2019,” CEO Danson Muchemi said in a letter addressed to acting county secretary Pauline Kahiga.

WebTribe, JamboPay’s mother company, is also reported to have demanded the settlement of Sh60 million debt.

The notice led to intense conversation between the parties, informing the decision to extend JamboPay contract by 30 days.

The extension is aimed at allowing for a smooth transition and migration of JamboPay’s EjijiPay system.

ICT chief officer Halkano Waqo is said to have spearheaded the appeal for extension.

“We’ve been engaging the company on a smooth transition. We’re trying to disengage from them, but we want this to have minimal interruptions on services,” he told a local daily on Wednesday.

On the Sh60 million debt, the parties agreed the matter be addressed separately by the Finance executive.

The firm was contracted in April 2014 for a period of five years to solve revenue collection loopholes at City hall that led to lose of billions of shillings.