Nairobi extends JamboPay contract again to finish migration
A file photo of Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko before the Senate’s County Public Accounts and Investments Committee over queries on financial year 2017/18. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The latest extension is the second in a month since the contract between the two parties expired on April 7.
- Nairobi's ICT and e-government Chief Officer Mr Halkano Waqo said it would allow the county to complete migration of data and other requirements to City Hall, to enable it to start running its own system.
- JamboPay Chief Executive Officer Danson Muchemi confirmed said the contract had been extended for another month, on the same terms.
Nairobi County has yet again extended JamboPay's contract as it struggles to set up its own revenue collection system, which will cost Sh205 million.
The latest extension is the second in a month since the contract between the two parties officially expired on April 7.
The contract was first extended in April, for a month, so it elapsed on May 7, necessitating another move to prevent a crisis.
TRANSITION SUPPORT
On Wednesday, Nairobi's ICT and e-government Chief Officer Mr Halkano Waqo said it would allow the county to complete migration of data and other requirements to City Hall, to enable it to start running its own system.
Mr Waqo explained that the county had been in the process of migrating most systems to its own data centre and servers located at City Hall.
As such, he said, it was difficult to abruptly dispense with JamboPay.
"It is not an extension per se as. They are just supporting us in the transition process, so we thought it better to prolong the period so they can continue supporting us for a few weeks," he said.
"Maybe in the next two weeks maximum, we will be able to shake hands and tell them 'thank you so much, you have supported us and now we can be on our own'."
He said the county had migrated most of the data, servers and applications required to power up its own system.
SAME TERMS
JamboPay Chief Executive Officer Danson Muchemi confirmed said the contract had been extended for another month, on the same terms.
"Yes we got an extension on Tuesday, following consultations with the county government, for a limited period of time," he said.
City Hall has been grappling with acquiring its own integrated county revenue management system and has now set aside a Sh205 million budget.
In April, Nairobi suffered a blow when all the firms that applied to replace JamboPay failed to meet the technical evaluation criteria.
Governor Mike Sonko, while appearing before Senate’s County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) at the time, said his administration would stop outsourcing after the expiry of JamboPay contract.
JamboPay has been collecting revenue on behalf of City Hall since 2014.
