•Ngumbi said in some counties, private service providers have total control of the revenue collection systems
•This poses the risk of the systems exposure to manipulation leading to loss of the collected revenue
Image: Handout
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has cautioned that the automation of revenue collection in counties is not entirely foolproof.
It advised that for the fight against corruption to bear fruits, public officials managing the automated systems must always uphold integrity, accountability and good governance practices.
Revealing some of the loopholes in the process, the Commission's Head of Corporate Affairs Eric Ngumbi said in some counties, private service providers have total control of the revenue collection systems.
This poses the risk of the system's exposure to manipulation leading to loss of the collected revenue.
This was established during a Corruption Risk Assessment exercise carried out in 27 counties.
It also found out that some county officials have access and super user rights to the automated systems with the authority to delete or edit revenue data leading to the diversion of revenue.
The Commission further warned that having multiple bank accounts for the revenue collection might be a loophole even in an automated process.
Other gaps include failure to reconcile revenue collection systems where different service providers collect revenue for the county, which may lead to adverse effects on accountability and failure to remit collected revenue to the County Revenue Fund.
This is contrary to Article 207 of the Constitution.
It stipulates that the County Revenue Fund should receive all money raised or received on behalf of the county government.
"Governors should seal current revenue leakages and strengthen internal accountability mechanisms to prevent theft of what has been collected," Ngumbi said.
This comes after the Controller of Budget issued a report ranking counties based on, among other parameters, revenue collection performance.
EACC welcomed the good performance marked by some counties by surpassing their revenue collection targets.
It, however, noted that there is room for improvement on the same, saying this was being compromised by instutionalised leakages, embezzlement of what has been collected and other malpractices by county officials.