The rot in City Hall continues as a parking officer was put on the spot over decision to suspend the payment of seasonal parking through JamboPay while City Hall contract with the online payment firm has not yet expired.
Ward representatives raised concerns on the move by the county’s parking department to revert to manual payment system while JamboPay still has a valid contract as reported by Nation.
The Nairobi County Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee queried why the department instructed matatu saccos operating in the city centre to use direct banking services, a model prone to revenue loss, instead of the automated JamboPay system.
The committee alleged foul play, saying the officer only targeted the revenue stream which is the top earner for the county.
The move, they said, has led to the county government losing millions of shillings in seasonal parking fees revenue.
The committee, led by Kariobangi South MCA Robert Mbatia, said the director of parking services Tom Tinega directed in writing that all 397 matatu saccos in Nairobi to stop paying seasons parking tickets through JamboPay on December 24, 2018.
Mr Tinega, in his defence, said he wanted to make it easier for the parking department to reconcile payment records and tame alleged fake payments made by the matatu saccos.
He claimed that revenue from the seasonal parking tickets had increased by Sh5 million for the first month and Sh17 million in second month following his directive.
But when pressed by Mr Mbatia to explain why the department had only suspended the seasonal parking revenue stream, Mr Tinega could not offer any substantive explanation.