Makueni County Government has projected to collect Sh1.24 billion in own source revenue during the 2023/2024 financial year, Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr has said.
Governor Mutula disclosed that to date the county government has collected Sh887.4 million and added that they will hit the target through their own source revenue in the remaining period.
The governor said the only ultimate solution to sustainable, efficient and effective resource mobilisation was through leveraging on technology to enhance customer service, seeking strategic partnerships in resource mobilisation and creating an enabling environment for investment geared towards promoting trade and commerce.
“The key driver of my government agenda is to improve the lives of the people of Makueni through integrated and impactful service delivery. We prioritise people, promote inclusivity in participation and foster strategic partnerships. This is why we have come together with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in mobilisation of revenues to support this vision,” said Mutula at his Wote Office where they jointly with KCB started Own Source Revenue (OSR) market outreach programme.
“The government has now embraced a cashless transaction regime and that all revenue payments are 100 percent cashless. This has greatly minimised the risk of corruption, instilled customer confidence and accountability,” added the Governor.
Speaking during a media briefing, the governor revealed that own source revenue last financial year registered the highest performance at 82 percent ever since the inception of the county government.
He attributed the current increase to collective efforts to enhance own source revenue through strategic engagement with key stakeholders including KCB who provided a platform for an end to end revenue transaction that enabled the county to go cashless.
“The total amount collected in the 2021/2022 financial year stood at Sh891.6 million up from Sh749.4 million,” he posed.
Governor Mutula urged residents to make voluntary payments while cautioning Revenue Clerks to avoid harassing wananchi as they are faced with hard economic times.
“Tafadhali I don’t want to see our residents being harassed by Revenue Clerks while collecting revenue. I have requested the Finance Department to make arrangements with the business people to find an amicable way in paying for taxes,” noted Mutula.
Through this partnership, promotion of business in the platform provided by KCB will visit markets in the 30 wards across the county in creating awareness about the easy way of making their payments.
Speaking in the same function, KCB Wote Branch Manager Patrick Mutuku said that they are ready to work closely with the county government to enhance revenue collection in markets in the 30 wards.
In another development, Mutuku said that they are involved in conservation efforts and have so far planted over 8,000 tree seedlings in the county.
He was accompanied by the KCB Wote customer relations Manager Mr. Timothy Mwanzia.
By Patrick Nyakundi and Mitchell Mwendwa
