The catering services department of the University of Nairobi has declared that all students are now required to make payments for kitchen and food services via the eCitizen portal.
This is according to a directive from the Kenya Kwanza government to the university, that all payments to the institution be made through the government online portal and a unified M-pesa paybill
“The Kenyan Government has mandated that all payments to the University of Nairobi be made via the E-Citizen platform. Complying with this directive, the University has established the required systems to enable clients to make payments through E-Citizen. To pay for services, please follow the instructions provided below,” reads the memo, issued by the VC through the corporate affairs office.
The university subsequently issued a memo to all students and staff, giving instructions and processes on how to make the payments as follows:
To pay for University of Nairobi meals via Citizen portal, follow the procedure below;
- Go to your M-PESA
- Select ‘Lipa na M-PESA’
- Enter Pay Bill Business Number: 222222
- Enter the Account Number: Outlet/Live identifier in capital letters followed by a hyphen and your name (Example: NUK1-name).
- Enter Amount
- Enter M-PESA PIN
- Click Okay to pay
The university went on to give further payment details (Outlet/Live Identifiers) for different kitchens.
The directive applies to different kitchens in the main campus and other satellite campuses within Nairobi.
Below is a list of Outlet/Live Identifiers (in italics) for different kitchens at the University of Nairobi:
- Kitchen One, Next to Students’ Clinic: NUK1
- Women’s Hall Kitchen, ‘Box’ next to Nairobi Primary School: NUWK
- Mamlaka Kitchen, Along Mamlaka Road: NUMK
- Chiromo Kitchen, Chiromo Campus: NUCK
- Parklands Kitchen, Parklands Campus: NUPK
- Lower Kabete Kitchen, Lower Kabete Campus: NULK
- Upper Kabete Kitchen, Upper Kabete Campus: NUUK
- Kikuyu Kitchen, Kikuyu Campus: NUKK
- Kenya Science Kitchen, Kenya Science Campus: NUKS
- Kenyatta Medical School Kitchen, KNH Campus: NUMS
- Comcare Cafe, KNH Campus: NUCC
- Central Catering Unit, Main Campus/ Next to the Graduation Square: NCCU
Unlike other eCitizen payments, this does not incur a convenience fee of KES 50
The recent instructions follow a month after the government finalized the transition of all its services to the e-Citizen platform. Under this system, individuals seeking government services will be obliged to pay certain fees.
Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u announced in December 2023 the implementation of access charges for government services on the e-Citizen platform.
In a gazette notice, Ndung’u stated that those seeking to access services on the platform shall be required to pay a nominal administrative fee per transaction.The services and charges are as follows;
- Below KES.199 will be charged at KES.5
- Between KES.200 – KES299 at Ksh.10
- Between KES.300 – KES.499 at Ksh.15
- Between KES.500 – KES.699 at Ksh.20
- Between KES.700 – KES.999 at Ksh.25
- Over KES.1000 – KES.50
Any dollar amount at US dollar (KES.156 in current exchange rates)