Embu County Government is working with the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology and the Digital Economy and Telco, Safaricom, to come up with a new revenue collection system that will seal revenue loss loopholes.
Governor Cecily Mbarire said the new system is to replace the current that has proven unsatisfactory, with targeted revenues for this year expected to have a Sh300 million shortfall.
She said the county had expected to raise Sh1billion, which would have been Sh321 million more than last financial year’s Sh 679 million.
She spoke at the County Government Chambers Thursday when she witnessed the County’s Executive Committee members (CEMCs) signing performance contracts.
The Governor told the CEMCs that she expected that they would be consultative in the management of their dockets which would help them to keep a tab on their dockets.
She said she didn’t expect to see protocol broken where directors could conceive projects and go as far as engaging the procurement division when the CEMCs and Chief Officers in charge were not aware.
She advised them to closely monitor the progress of projects to ensure funds allocated are absorbed 100 per cent, adding that she was aware that delays in the disbursement of equitable share by the National Treasury could delay projects.
She said whereas the National Treasury was yet to release the funds for December and January, the CEMCs should be innovative so that work does not stop.
She said they were engaging the National Government through the Council of Governors to improve on the disbursements.
Governor Mbarire said in order to improve service delivery at the Level Two and Three hospitals, they have now been allowed to collect some service charges from their patients.
She said the money would not be surrendered to the County Treasury but would be used in the facilities for emergency repairs and minor supplies.
“We expect that the health centres will be able to use the money on such things as repairing a broken tap or buying a bottle of Jik without having to write a requisition order to the County Headquarters,” she said.
She told the CEMCs, part of whose contracts is covered revenue collections, to regularly visit their departments’ revenue collection points even at odd hours to ensure revenue was being collected effectively.
“We are counting on the revenue collected to keep our promise to the residents of our county,” she added.
