County with Sh8 billion revenue capacity, most of it looted,Governor

Kiambu County has the capacity to collect up to Sh8 billion revenue annually through various levies, but most of it gets looted, Governor James Nyoro has said.
Nyoro said the county was in the process of sealing all the loopholes for graft to stop looting of daily collections, which has been rampant in the past.
A recent report by the County Assembly Finance Committee indicated that hundreds of thousands of shillings in daily cash collections end up in the pockets of some county employees and cartels.
Nyoro said the amount was enough to develop the county and to provide the much-needed services for the citizens.
He was speaking Saturday after inspecting Igegania Level 4 Hospital in Gatundu North Sub County that is set to be upgraded to a Level Five Health facility.
The governor said to seal loopholes for looting in hospitals, all payment of bills by patients will be made through mobile money starting next month.
“We have to seal the corruption loopholes to be able to achieve our revenue targets which we estimate to be about Sh8 billion annually. This county has suffered much from looting and we want to stop that vice,” he said.
The upgrading of the Igegania hospital will ease pressure on Thika Level Five hospital that receives patients from Murang’a, Machakos and Nairobi counties.
It came to be after the National Government and the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital (KUTRH) took up the responsibility to upgrade the Gatundu Level Five hospital to a level six facility.
The facility will be allocated more personnel and equipment and its infrastructure improved through the establishment of a modern laboratory, a laundry and a kitchen, he said.
The County will thus have three Level Five Hospitals, Thika, Igegania and Kiambu Hospitals and one Level Six Health facility.
“Many of the level four hospitals are disadvantaged as they do not get external support like level two, three and five hospitals that currently receive Universal Health Coverage support and unconditional grants respectively,” Nyoro said.
He called on the Ministry of Health to offer more funding to the Kiambu County health department saying that most of the county’s health institutions are overstretched by influx of patients particularly from the neighbouring Nairobi County.
By Muoki Charles