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Moja Expressway company which runs the 27-kilometre highway on Thursday announced that M-Pesa will officially be availed as a payment option from January.
This is a relief to many motorists who had been using cash after the company in May said that the decision to delay M-Pesa payments was because transactions via cash were seen as quick.
The company argued then that M-Pesa payment would result in traffic congestion at tolling points.
During their Moja Annual General Meeting on Thursday, Moja Expressway company CEO Steve Zhao announced that M-Pesa will officially be available as a payment.
“We recently put great effort with the M-Pesa team and by January 15, 2023, you don’t need to carry cash as M-Pesa will officially be availed as a payment option on the Nairobi Expressway,” he said.
Initially, motorists had to either register to use a manual payment system or install an automatic payment system, which allows them to go through tolling stations faster.
Those using manual tolling cards must have a national identity card (ID) to register for the card, which will cost Sh300 for the installation service charge and at least Sh1,000 must be loaded in points.
Electronic tolling card users will be required to produce an ID and the logbook of the vehicle being registered and pay a Sh1,000 installation service charge and a minimum of Sh2,000 to be loaded onto the card.
Many Kenyans pay for a majority of services via mobile money service and the delay in including it in the payment options had limited motorists who wish to use the road without using cash or cards.
The expressway is the first major project in the country to be carried out through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model and was officially opened by former President Uhuru Kenyatta on July 31.
The road runs from Mlolongo through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Nairobi Central Business District to the Westlands area along Waiyaki Way.
The Sh89 billion highway has 11 interchanges at Mlolongo, Standard Gauge Railway, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands, and James Gichuru Road.
It has been praised as one of the best projects so far.