Kenyans have expressed their rage after a video showing tourists stranded outside the Nairobi National Park surfaced on Sunday, September 10, morning.
An X user named Adrian Blomfield posted the 45 seconds clip showing a fleet of tourists’ vans waiting outside the park.
He claimed that they were forced to wait for almost an hour to enter the park.
According to him, the delay was occasioned by a new system introduced by the Kenya Wildlife Service where tourists had to register on the eCitizen platform in line with the move to consolidate payments of all government services.
“The reason for these massive queues is that now every tourist must be registered on e-citizen and payments must be made through the platform. However, the system is slow, laborious, and often does not work,” he claimed.
The video has since sparked reactions from Kenyans online, with a section criticizing the efficiency of the centralized payment system.
Also Read: President Ruto Merges all Govt Paybill Numbers into One
Inconveniencing Tourists
Mohamed Wehliye, an economist and an expert on financial matters, was among Kenyans who criticized the implementation of the new system.
Taking to his X account, Mohamed poked holes into its efficiency noting that it appeared to be a move backwards instead of making access to the parks easier.
According to him, having to queue for an hour to access a park would be a turn-off for tourists and as such the government would end up losing revenue.
“Some friends who wanted to go for an early morning Sunday game drive have instead decided to go to Kitengela for nyama choma. Reason? Long queue at park entrance!” the economist posed.
“Can’t they be both effective and efficient? No one wants to queue for an hour inside a car so as to do a 1-hour game drive.”
Ndii’s Rejoinder on the Delay
On his part, David Ndii- the Chairperson of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors- told off critics of the new system.
In a statement on X, Ndii noted that revenues from government services have increased since the adoption of the system with park fees being one of the highest contributors.
He went on to allude that the delays could have been a result of people opposed to the new plan and that the new system required time to be seamless.
“Daily revenues for most services are up 2-3 times since implementation of the single pay bill. Park fees are one of the highest. Corruption fights back,” an adamant Ndii stated.
“You think solutions are magic wands that are waved, and everything changes instantaneously?” he posed to the critics.
Also Read: KWS to Triple Park Entry Fees
The Kenya Wildlife Service was yet to respond to the delays experienced at the Nairobi National Park by press time.
Single Pay Bill System
In June, President William Ruto announced the unification of all government services.
Speaking during the launch of digitized government services, the President noted that citizens would pay for all government services through the paybill number 22222.
This, according to Ruto, would help to cut down on revenue loss and optimize Treasury’s capacity to collect revenue through government services.
“The expectations of the government are that all revenue must go through pay bill 222 222 so that the Treasury can have sight of every govt service that is paid for,” President Ruto had stated.
