Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja recently addressed concerns regarding the city’s revenue collection system, Nairobi Pay, clarifying that it was developed internally by government entities rather than by external vendors.
This statement comes in response to audit queries raised by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, who highlighted issues with the system’s lack of clarity and absence of a valid service agreement with the county government.
Sakaja emphasized that Nairobi Pay was established during a period when the County Government had transferred functions to the National Government, with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) mandated to collect revenue in the city. He further explained that the system was already in place when he assumed office, and he rejected proposals from vendors to migrate to a different revenue system.
“We looked at the system, it looked robust. At the time, the responsibility to collect revenue had been transferred to KRA. When we transferred it, KRA did not have a system, so as a national government, we developed the system. There is no company called Nairobi Pay,” Sakaja said.
The Nairobi Pay system, launched in collaboration with the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and KRA, aimed to enhance accountability, increase revenue collection, and combat corruption within the county government.
While Gathungu’s audit report raised concerns about the lack of clarity and service agreement for Nairobi Pay, Sakaja asserted that since the system was developed internally by government entities, it did not require a service level agreement. He defended his decision to retain the existing revenue system, citing its robustness and effectiveness.
“When every Governor takes office, they encounter numerous vendors offering their systems with pricing proposals, but I said No. Let’s examine the existing system’s effectiveness and potential to better serve Nairobi,” he said.
“So after reviewing all the systems, we said why don’t we strengthen this system that has been worked on using heavy government resources and they had no need of a contract with themselves because it was national government. The national government cannot have a contract with itself. They can create a team to develop that system.”
