Munya defends county revenue collection, admits loss of funds

What you need to know:

  • Mr Munya said the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) who claimed that the councils netted more revenue could have included the defunct Local Authorities Transfer Fund in their calculations.
  • The ward reps were angered by finance executive’s move to deduct Sh52 million from the Assembly citing short falls in local revenue and failure by the MCAs to pass finance Bills for the last two years.

Meru Governor Peter Munya has refuted reports that his government was collecting less revenue than the defunct local governments despite growth in the economy and automation of systems.

In an interview with the Nation, Mr Munya however admitted that “a lot” of money was stolen by some members of staff.

Mr Munya said the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) who claimed that the councils netted more revenue could have included the defunct Local Authorities Transfer Fund in their calculations.

“It is not true that we are collecting less revenue. We have not even reached our optimum,” Mr Munya said on phone.

Speaking while contributing to a debate on the Meru Supplementary appropriation Bill on Wednesday, several MCAs warned that the county may be losing local revenue to unscrupulous officers.

According to the 2016/2017 budget estimates set for public participation, the county treasury expects to collect Sh588.2 million from local sources.

This is a drop from Sh817.9 million projected in the 2015/2016 financial year budget.

After failing to meet its target, the county treasury reviewed the 2015/2016 local revenue projections to Sh435.2 million through its supplementary budget estimates.

The county collected Sh539.4 million in 2014/2015 while Sh344 million was raised in 2013/2014 financial year.

The ward reps were angered by finance executive’s move to deduct Sh52 million from the Assembly citing short falls in local revenue and failure by the MCAs to pass finance Bills for the last two years.

Municipality Ward representative Kiome Rimbere who served as Meru municipal council mayor between 2009 and 2012 said the local authorities in Meru were collecting more than Sh1 billion annually.

“The Meru central county council, the Meru municipal council, Nyambene county council used to raise up to Sh300 million while Maua Municipal council was collecting Sh100 million annually. That totals to Sh1 billion. This was before we increased charges in the 2013/2014 finance act and the economy was not as advanced as today,” Mr Rimbere said.

On Friday, Mr Munya accused the county assembly of having rejected last year’s finance Bill that could have helped boost revenue.

He said the county had automated 70 per cent of its systems and looks forward to hit 100 per cent.

He said County Revenue Board similar to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has been established and its chief executive named to address challenges in revenue collection and seal all corruption loopholes.

The United States Agency for International Development which is board’s consultant head helped set up its structures.

“The board has already started working,” he said.

He said stern action would be taken against workers found stealing the county revenue.