Nairobi loses revenue through system failure – official

It has now emerged that Nairobi County has been losing revenue, as a consequence of the recurring failures within the revenue collection systems.

The revelations unfolded as the county's urban planning and parking fee revenue team appeared before the Ad Hoc Committee on Revenue Collection during a public participation session on Wednesday

It was disclosed that property holders, in the wake of system failures, neglect to remit their payments, while those who dutifully pay find themselves in a bizarre money-back reversal.

City motorists were mentioned as the main contributors to this financial dance, skillfully executing manoeuvres to reverse their payments.

Lucy Kanini, the officer in charge of loading zones, painted a vivid picture of the chaos.

"Now and then, we experience some downfalls in the systems, and parking is the greatest casualty of this," she said.

"The collection of revenue faces another challenge, as the absence of title deeds for land and buildings hampers the Nairobi Pay System's ability to extract revenue from property owners."

Kanini said out of the nearly 180,000 properties in the new system, 177,000 are contributing to the revenue pool, leaving a notable gap.

The ad-hoc committee chair Peter Imwatok, who is also the leader of the Majority noted the disparities in compliance across the city, saying while the Western part and parts of Kilimani display admirable revenue payment percentages, other areas witness a surge in developments without corresponding contributions.

The committee also heard that the system's flaws extend beyond revenue loss, manifesting in faulty invoices displaying double the amount paid by city dwellers, with some payments mysteriously absent from the system altogether.

Shedding light on the issue, Stephen Mutua Head of Rates at Nairobi City County highlighted that at times due to faulty, the system generates double invoices.

"If a person pays, for example, Sh10,000, we have seen the system generate an invoice of double the paid amount. Others even do not appear in the system," he said.

As a result, Mutua told the MCAs that concerned Nairobians, whose land rates payments remain unreflected have been advised to exercise patience until January for a manual update, as the system currently lacks access to bank statements, relying solely on dashboard reconciliation.

"We have no access to the bank statement as we only reconcile with the dashboard. We have requested those whose pay has not been reflected to wait until January when we will do a manual update,” he said.

The committee stated that Wednesday's hearing underscored the urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul of the system to stem further revenue losses.

Under Standing Order 211, the County Assembly established an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the revenue collection system and administration by Nairobi City County for the period 2013 – 2023.

The inquiry aims to identify leaks, map revenue sources, and estimate the County's internal revenue potential fairly.

As the committee proceeds with public hearings, the general public continues to submit memoranda on matters related to revenue streams, contributing to the ongoing narrative of Nairobi's financial landscape.

The six key own-source revenue streams include parking fees, rates, single business permits, house rents and building permits.

More than 136 revenue streams of the county have been digitised.