Kakamega County plans to employ county marshals to assist revenue officers in enforcing the collection of Own Source Revenue.
Governor Fernandes Barasa said the county has the potential to raise Sh5.8 billion per financial year. Speaking during the pass-out parade for the first Cohort of County Marshals who have completed a one-month rigorous training.
He said the marshals will be posted in various parts of the county and start working to support the collection of the Sh3.3 billion revenue target for this financial year.
“At the moment we have a target of collecting Sh3.3 billion this financial year, and I am very hopeful that, with the onboarding of the county marshals, who have graduated today, we are going to surpass that target,” he noted.
Thus, he stated that achieving his six-point agenda for Kakamega residents requires maximising and optimising revenue collection.
“We will not tolerate any officer who will be compromised in the course of their duty, because I am aware we have a lot of pilferage in the revenue collection, and that is why, you as the first cohort of the marshals, you are going to be my core team in realising our potential of collecting Sh5.8 billion per year,” said Governor Barasa.
Moreover, the county government’s commitment to youth opportunities and well-trained personnel is evident in the recruitment of marshals. Hence, Governor Barasa said the own source revenue in addition to the equitable share will be critical in completing projects that the county government started together with projects inherited from the previous administration.
“We are not going to start new projects until we complete all the projects that we have started, including the projects which we inherited from the previous administration,” he noted. For example, key projects that are still under construction are the Level Six hospital and the Bukhungu Stadium.
“I want to confirm to the Kakamega people that we are working very closely with the president to ensure completion of our level 6 referral hospital. We are also going to focus on the completion of Bukhungu International Stadium in readiness to host the 2027 African Cup of Nations,” he noted.
He urged the county assembly to support the programmes that the county government is undertaking this financial year, especially when the county will be seeking a supplementary budget to reallocate priorities in completing all the ongoing projects.
The governor also asked the National Treasury to expedite release of shareable revenue to counties to ensure that programmes being undertaken are not interfered with.
He noted that delays in the release of the equitable share, which is a constitutional requirement, will paralyse many operations in counties.
By Moses Wekesa
