Digital payment system JamboPay, owned by Web Tribe, has been offering services to Nairobi since 2014.
However , The resignation of Nairobi Deputy Governor Polycarp Igathe following alleged frustration by Sonko was just the beginning of what insiders termed as turbulent times at City Hall.
Among the issues which Sonko and Igathe differed on is on retaining Jambo Pay as the collector of parking revenue among others including garbage collection
The former Nairobi Deputy Governor Polycarp Igathe wanted the contract awarded to another company while Sonko refused. The duo had in their manifesto promised to cancel Jambo Pay’s contract within the first 100 days.
Governor Sonko and Igathe are like water and paraffin they can’t mix together, MikeSonko wants to amass and offer illegal tenders to his Sonko rescue and Jambo Pay whereas @IgathePolycarp wants resources spent prudently an intellectual vs a street mugger and crook don’t mix ever
— Mugo Wa Kanyiri (@kanyiris06) January 15, 2018
According to the lawmakers and unknown to law abiding citizens of Nairobi , the system is wanting, prone to leakages and that the county is not in control of the transactions.
Mr Sonko told the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee the system is a “headache” as its transactions are not always transparent and its owners are not accountable.
Well why then did he not terminate the contract as the county chief ?
The county chief claims the the main problem is on the reconciliation of figures which is not happening.
Sonko claims the county has written letters to them without response and further claimed that an audit by KPMG had failed to account for up to Sh22 billion.
What even shocked the committee was that the county government had ordered the company to bring their servers to City Hall so that they can monitor the transactions but they have refused.
He urged the Senate to summon JamboPay’s CEO and question him.
Mr Sonko said he could not stop the contract for fear of lawsuits for breach of the agreement, saying this could be costly to the taxpayer. He also said termination meant going back to manual payments which are more susceptible to corruption.
But, the lawmakers questioned his sincerity on the issue and demanded an explanation on why he had not exploited the exit clause in the contract to end the deal.
Mr Moses Kajwang’, who chairs the committee, told the governor to take practical steps to terminate the contract. “If you are dissatisfied you better terminate it because this committee will hold you responsible and recommend that you be investigated for the loss of public funds and violation of the law,” he warned, saying waiting for the contract to run out is not enough.
Is jambo pay a cartel ?