JamboPay is set to stay longer at City Hall even after the expiry of their contract in April this year.
This comes after Nairobi County Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Mbatia said that the electronic payment firm will need to stay for at least three more months to allow for a smooth transition.
The firm’s contract is set to expire on April 7, 2019 with the company having been contracted by the county government in 2014 to supply, implement and maintain an automated revenue collection and payments solution for a period of five years.
Currently, City Hall relies eJijiPay, a mobile app platform for revenue collected operated by Jambo Pay. The app is used by city residents for payment of land rates, business permits, parking fee, house rent and market stall rents.
TRANSITION TEAM
Mr Mbatia said a team, comprising JamboPay staff and City Hall officials, will formulate modalities of JamboPay exit.
“The executive is not ready for an exit of JamboPay. If they were to exit today, how are we going to collect our money? We will need at least three months after April because I am sure there has been no discussions on what next after their exit,” said Mr Mbatia.
The Kariobangi South MCA said it will summon relevant county minister to explain state of City Hall preparedness on new system that will replace JamboPay.
On January 7, the firm’s parent company Web Tribe wrote to the county government expressing intention not to renew its contract.
SYSTEM HAND-OVER
Web Tribe chief executive Danson Muchemi said that they were ready to hand over its system to City Hall, ahead of the expiry of their contract.
“In the spirit of good faith and to ensure continuity, we wish to hand-over the system to the city of Nairobi. We confirm our readiness to facilitate the process, and ensure its success,” read in part the letter.
Mr Mbatia said the county paid Sh30 million for the application and the intention was the city would own it after five years.
“What I initially saw is that we paid upfront for the infrastructure and that means that they were to leave the system,” he said.
On February 1, City Hall called on interested bidders to provide an alternative revenue management system.