The Committee Chairman Osman Adow said that the county risks going back to manual revenue collection which may lead to loss of revenue because no alternative revenue collection provider has been contracted/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 10 – Members of the ICT Committee have warned of impending risk if the digital payment platform, JamboPay’s contract is terminated without an alternative.
The Committee Chairman Osman Adow said that the county risks going back to manual revenue collection which may lead to loss of revenue because no alternative revenue collection provider has been contracted.
“It’s very risky to terminate JamboPay without having an alternative; this will negatively affect the county’s revenue collection,” said Adow.
The Eastleigh MCA-led committee was responding to a report by the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee which wanted JamboPay’s contract terminated.
PAC had argued that the operations of the county’s revenue collector are not transparent.
During the annual budget statement, the County Finance CEC Charles Kerich hinted that they are exploring a revenue collection alternative ahead of JamboPay’s contract expiry in 2019.
He said that they could engage another private firm or go it alone and follow Kwale County’s example, operating an internal system called Kwale Pay, which he hailed as very efficient and transparent.
However, Adow said the committee had taken technical investigations and didn’t find any wrongdoing on the part of the provider.
“I would urge the members to stop pointing fingers at JamboPay and rather engage them to learn how revenue is collected and also give recommendations to strengthen the system,” said Adow.
He said they had established that the company has not done anything wrong adding that it has capacity to collect revenue as it’s a big company in East Africa.
Further, Adow argued that JamboPay managed to collect Sh9.86 billion in the 2017/2018 financial year despite the prolonged electioneering period which affected the revenues of most county governments.
According to the committee, the county also risks paying the company millions of shillings for premature termination of a legal contract.
JamboPay entered into contract with Nairobi County and automated most of the revenue streams hence boosting revenue collection.
The service provider collects payments of land rates, parking, rentals and construction approvals among others.
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