Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa now wants a pact with his neighbouring Uasin Gishu counterpart Jonathan Bii over revenue collection.
Barasa said revenue collection disputes between the two counties resulted from administrative boundaries set before and after devolution.
Barasa said he would engage the Uasin Gishu leadership and come up with a pact to ensure smooth inter-county trade between the neighbours.
“I will work with Jonathan Bii on cess levy on tractors ferrying sugar cane from Uasin Gishu to Butali and West Kenya Sugar Companies," he said.
“We must respect inter-county transport as traders from Butali Company, Kabras Sugar and other firms in Kakamega and neighbouring counties move around in search of raw materials. I am glad that the County Aggregation and Industrial park in Likuyani will help harmonise our trading relations.”
Cess is a levy paid by millers to county governments for the maintenance of roads within the sugar belt.
For example, Barasa said that part of Turbo is administratively in Kakamega but the same area falls under Uasin Gishu as a constituency, a matter that creates confusion on revenue collection.
“I will engage my colleague Governor Bii to ensure free movement of traders and to solve the pending revenue collection issues in Turbo,” he said.
Barasa spoke when he launched the maintenance and upgrading of 50km of roads in Nzoia, Sango, Kongoni, Likuyani and Sinoko wards in Likuyani constituency.
Deputy Governor Ayub Savula called on area MP Innocent Mugabe to engage other leaders in solving the revenue concerns affecting Likuyani constituency.
Kakamega County Revenue Agency CEO Chris Okumu called for the establishment of a cess unit to serve as a collection point for inter-county traders.
This, he said, would allow for revenue collection for vehicles transporting products from one area to another.
“We used to have cess points during the defunct local authority and slightly again after devolution. This year we are focused on unlocking potential areas that we have not been getting revenue from,” Okumu said.
Kakamega county collected Sh1.3 billion from her own sources in the financial year 2022-2023 against a target of Sh2.2 billion.