Tana River County seizes over 300 motorcycles for registration
More than 50 boda boda operators in Tana River County have been left in distress after their motorbikes were reclaimed by a creditor for defaulting installment payments for the motorbikes they took.
What you need to know:
Motorcycles have been seized by askaris assisted by police officers for registration into the county revenue data base.
Hundreds of motorcycles have been confiscated by Tana River County government as it moves to digitally map all businesses and properties to boost revenue collection.
The motorcycles have been seized by askaris assisted by police officers for registration into the county revenue data base.
Tana River County Director of Revenue Kase Daido told the Nation the plan had been communicated to the operators six months ago. The motorists were asked to obtain business permits or risk being fined or bikes confiscated.
"It is not a surprise operation for the boda boda operators. We had talked about this with them and made a mutual agreement earlier on," he said.
Mr Daido said efforts to have the motorists captured in the system had borne little fruit, accusing some of them of forging signatures and duplicating stamps to make their own business permits.
"There is a cyber cafe in this town that is causing us a lot of headache. It has specialised in forging the permits for the boda boda operators. We are tracking it down and also appeal to the public to help us in this," said Mr Daido.
The automation of tax collection follows numerous complaints of loopholes in revenue collection.
Governor Dhadho Godhana had said some county officers were embezzling tax collections leading to revenue target shortfalls.
Mr Godhana had threatened to sack the revenue collection team after they failed to meet Sh60m target for last year, raising only Sh27.4m according to a report by the Controller of Budget.
