Senators want taxman to collect revenue in counties
By Hillary Mageka, September 24, 2019
Senators have recommended an amendment to the law to have Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collect revenue for counties.
In the radical proposal, the lawmakers argue that county governments were losing revenue running into billions of shillings due to leakage associated with the systems they use.
This includes over-projection, administrative inefficiency, gaps in policy and weak legislation.
To increase the county own source revenue and seal corruption loopholes, the legislators want the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act amended to give the taxman powers to collect taxes on behalf of the devolved units.
Contributing to a motion by Vihiga Senator George Khaniri on the continual failure by counties to meet their own-source revenue targets, the leaders asked counties to enlist the services of KRA.
Led by Nominated Senator Agnes Zani, the legislators supported the amendment so as to have a regulatory system that brings together the Controller of Budget,KRA and other key players.
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula linked decreasing revenue among counties to the endemic corruption that has denied citizenry key services.