Laikipia County has exceeded the Sh1 billion mark own source revenue for the first time since the advent of devolution.

The county recorded Sh1.13 billion for the just-ended financial year, an increase of Sh229.5 million from Sh903.89 million in the 2021/2022 financial year.

Laikipia County Chief Officer in charge of Finance Daniel Ngumi said they had set a target of Sh1.297 billion.

Ngumi attributed the achievement to the digitization of revenue collection which had helped them track the payment of taxes.

The Chief Officer said that their target areas of improvement would be health care, infrastructure development and provision of agricultural inputs to farmers.

“First, the priority areas are hospitals by making sure they have the equipment they need and prevent people from going outside Laikipia to seek services. Other services include provision of water,” said Ngumi.

He revealed the county targets to collect about Sh1.475 Billion for the financial year 2023/2024.

At the same time, Ngumi said that they had been able to reduce pending bills by paying about Sh40 million monthly in a bid to offset Sh1.2 billion debt.

Laikipia County Finance Board CEO Kamunya Kalundo said to hit the Sh1.475 billion target, the administration of Governor Joshua Irungu intends to impose property taxes such as land rates.