The Constitution requires county governments to collect their own source revenue.
The biggest hurdles are poor systems that compromise collection.
A lot of own source revenue in counties is a service fee. It is not a tax in the normal way, like the one collected by Kenya Revenue Authority, which you have to pay, come rain come shine.
The challenge with that is the service department does not realise that.
Some people think creating a revenue board will aid collection. It is good to have such a board, if the service departments are not aligned then you are not able to grow your revenue; boards can help fix the problems but they are not perfect solutions.
For instance, the governor has ensured a roundtable on revenue, which is mandatory; it does not matter what is going on.
Even if President William Ruto is coming to the county, he should come after the revenue roundtable.
So, good systems, getting everybody on board and regular follow-up ensure a near-maximum revenue collection.
But the real challenge to the counties when it comes to own source of revenue collection is the national government.
The national government is the largest tax defaulter in Kenya. It is not paying property tariffs.
The counties also need to update their valuation rolls. But the biggest challenge is that the national government is not paying. They are in default.
We have had situations where police stations sit on taxable land but the national government is not paying counties. So, counties try to repossess the parcels and the situation becomes very untidy.
But the bottom line is that it is good to have a very good system.
On the system, it is not just about having software. The system includes processes that are being used to collect revenue.
It includes the payment methods made available to the citizens to make it easier for them to pay. It includes the simplicity in using of that system for the people who are going to pay the fees.
So, it is a combination of the system and all that comes with it.
The former Laikipia Governor spoke to the Star
