University of Nairobi (UON) has directed students to pay for their meals via the government’s eCitizen platform.
Through a notice instructing 12 of the kitchens under the institution, the administration noted that the changes were in line with the Government’s directive regarding service payments.
“The gov’t has mandated that all payments to the University of Nairobi be made through the eCitizen platform. Complying with this directive, the university has come up with systems to allow clients to make payments,” the notice reads.
Governor Faculty of Health Sciences Ramesh Saxena speaking to Kenyans.co.ke noted that the service was free, contrary to Ksh50 service fee claims going around online.
“There are no extra charges. The first day it was rolled out I did not pay for any extra cost,” Saxena, a student leader stated.
“We are using the pay bill system, the only difference is it’s a government pay bill, to centralise the payments.”
According to systems developed to enable clients to make necessary payments, students will now be required to use the government’s pay bill number, as opposed to the previous ones.
“Go to M-Pesa, select the Lipa na M-Pesa’s Pay Bill option, use the Pay Bill number 222222 and enter the account number based on the kitchen outlet’s identifier name,” the notice instructs.
The buyer will then go on to key in the amount payable for the meal and input their PIN which will deposit the money to a centralised paybill.
Some of the kitchens included in the new system are the Upper Kabete Kitchen, Kikuyu Kitchen at the Kikuyu Campus, Kenya Science Kitchen at the main campus, Kenyatta Medical School Kitchen at the Kenyatta National Hospital Campus, Comcare Cafe at the KNH Campus and Central Catering Unit at the main campus.
Others were Kitchen One next to Students Clinic, Women’s Hall Kitchen, Mamlaka Kitchen along Mamlaka Road, Chiromo Kitchen at the Chiromo Campus, Parklands Kitchen at the Parklands Campus and Lower Kabete Kitchen at the Lower Kabete Campus.
The government in 2022 rolled out the centralised pay bill number - 222222 - as a single platform for service payments for public institutions.
