Nyachae backs new county fees

County taxes have been backed by the team overseeing the implementation of the Constitution.

The counties are, however, required to consult the public before introducing the taxes, the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution said.

Chairman Charles Nyachae said the law also required the national government to introduce a policy for “coordinated approval to any form of taxation,” by county governments.

Mr Nyachae’s remarks follow disagreements between the national and county governments on the new levies.

He said county governments were set up to deliver services and they must have funds to do so.

“Part of the money is from their share of the national allocation. The law also says that within a well-defined framework, counties will raise additional revenue from within through levies, charges and taxation,” he said.

Mr Nyachae said county governments were only expected to impose taxes after sufficient consultations with the locals.

“They are not supposed to just wake up one morning and pass a law without consulting the people. The people should be able to see how the revenue translates into services,” he said.

Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge told the Senate’s Finance Committee that the counties erred by not consulting the national government before implementing the new rates.

Dr Thugge said the Cabinet Secretary and Commission on Revenue Allocation should be consulted to avoid levies getting out of control.

He said the Constitution gave county governments the power to impose “property taxes, entertainment taxes and any other tax that it is authorised to impose by an Act of Parliament”.

The Treasury also says the Constitution (Article 209) states that the powers of counties to raise revenue should not be used in a way that “prejudices national economic policies or the national mobility of goods, services, capital or labour”.

Increased rates and new levies have sparked demonstrations in counties across the country, with traders complaining that the cost of doing business had shot up.

The devolved units, however, argue that the new rates are meant to fund development.

Separately, panellists at a devolution forum said the national government could not dictate to county governments what to do.

Chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation Micah Cheserem said Dr Thugge and senators were playing politics.

“They cannot dictate to county governments what to do. Counties have raised user charges and except for a few isolated cases, most of the objections being raised have been exaggerated,” said Mr Cheserem.

He feared that the Treasury would soon be saying that counties were unable to manage their affairs.