The County Government of Uasin Gishu, in line with the new revenue management system Sisibo Pay, is currently validating existing and updating new business data and other related licenses.
To realize the revenue target, the County government flagged off 310 enumerators and 85 supervisors to kick-start the exercise.
Speaking during the flagging off at the County headquarters, the Uasin Gishu County Governor Jonathan Bii noted that collecting the revenue from traders and the business community will enable the County to run its activities and programs.
“Apart from Uasin Gishu being a farmers’ Town, we also have business from small traders to big traders and all of us have equal chances of doing business,” he said.
Bii noted that the County is set to collect Sh2.7 billion from the targeted 80,000 businesses across the County.
He urged enumerators to collect the data by giving facts and by using the new revenue system Sisibo Pay which will help to reach out to many business communities and achieve the target.
County Director Licensing David Kebenei noted that the last exercise that was conducted comprehensively was in 2015 hence the data is not up-to-date.
“The main reason for collecting data is to assist this government in planning purposes and giving policy direction so that we can plan from a point of know,” said Kebenei.
He urged traders to take this exercise very positively because without the data planning will be from a point of not knowing.
“We realized that as we issue single business permits there has been unfairness in distribution and it is not intentional but because of the lack of data,” noted Kebenei.
County Director for Revenue and Compliance, CPA Jonah Lamai, noted that this exercise is keen in terms of planning purposes in terms of budget and projection in line with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).
“We have the timelines of only five days and we are going to ensure the exercise is finished within the given time,” said Lamai.
The Chief Officer for Finance Eliud Chemaget further noted that they are aware that business communities have not been able to access their business licences for the year 2024.
“With the introduction of the new revenue system, the data that will be collected will help in marking them in the system for them to apply for business licenses.
He urged the business community to support the exercise as this will enable them to receive a business permit for 2024.
“We are going to mark the Geographic Information System location of the business and in the revenue system we will be able to identify which shop has paid and which has not been able to pay,” he said.
Chief Officer for Trade, Tanui Geoffrey noted the enumerators have been trained and they will enable us to know the number and sizes of business we have in the County.
He encouraged the enumerators to carry out the exercise with diligence and acquire the correct data that is required in the County noting the importance of the data for policy making.
By Judy Too and Angela Silayo
