Governor Mike Sonko says cash payments will no longer be accepted at City Hall. Sonko argues cash payments have facilitated corruption, leading to loss of revenue.
He said the county government would make it mandatory for those paying for services to do so through the eJijiPay service. “Going forward, we have decided that no cash will be accepted at City Hall. Pay your fees via eJijiPAY either by dialing *217# on your phone or online via https://epayments.nairobi.go.ke or via the eJijiPAY apps available on Playstore,” said Sonko in a statement.
The governor said the decision is part of new government’s commitment to automate all revenue collection channels. Only 14 of 136 revenue streams are automated, with the rest being manual, thus making it easy for officials to illegally pocket money.
Increased revenue
Records at City Hall indicate that about Sh14 million is collected daily from the 14 streams while revenue from the other 122 cannot be verified as they still use manual receipts. The streams that are automated are daily parking, seasonal parking, parking penalties, single business permits, house rents, land rates, liquor licences, market rents, miscellaneous, E-construction, fire, health, advertisement, and regularisation. Sonko said there has been a steady increase in revenue collection in the past week, with the highest hitting Sh38 million on Monday and Sh37 million on Tuesday due to the measures the new administration has taken. A team appointed to investigate claims of fraud at City Hall was in the offices for the second day.
The officials worked in various departments at City Hall yesterday, perusing documents for evidence. The officers also talked to a number of workers, especially in the cash office, to understand the revenue collection channels. Last week they visited the offices of Jambo Pay, the company charged with collecting revenue for the county, to understand the flow of money. Officials aware of the probe said they had discovered massive fraud, with up to Sh4 million being stolen daily. The team has up to September 22 to complete its probe and take suspects to court.
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