Following the dwindling revenue collections in Homa Bay County, Governor Cyprian Awiti has cracked the whip by firing more than 400 revenue commission agents.
The Governor took the drastic move today after attending the swearing-in ceremony of four new Chief Officers at the County Government Headquarters.
He said the Commission agents were to blame for the anomalies in revenue collection.
“There are people who collect revenue and keep the money in their pockets instead of submitting them to county bank accounts. The services offered by the revenue commission agents are disbanded immediately,” Awiti said.
He noted that the malpractice had led to a decline in revenue collection in some towns compared to the era of defunct local authorities.
The revenue commission agents are in charge of collecting revenue from taxpayers in various markets, and bus stops in the county and are paid commission which is a percentage of the amount of revenue each of them collects.
According to the Governor, the County revenue collections had declined from Sh250million to Sh100million annually.
“I will not sit back and watch a few unscrupulous people misuse public funds at the expense of millions of residents,” he added.
The Governor directed each of his ten County Executive Members to identify 20 people from their departments to act as revenue collectors as a lasting solution was being sought.
He also banned a trend in which some county departments have been keeping their revenue in departmental accounts. Such revenue is collected in the form of payment for land rates, liquor licenses, among others.
Awiti who was accompanied by his Deputy, Hamilton Orata, County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe, and Finance Executive, Nicholas K’Oriko, directed that revenue from all streams must be deposited in one account to enhance accountability.
This means the departmental heads who want to spend revenue collected in a development project must request for the funds through the county treasury.
“I’m directing that any cent collected from taxpayers must be deposited in one revenue account to avoid pilferage of public funds. I don’t want to hear any department keeping revenue elsewhere,” Awiti said.
The Governor said the Senate Public Accounts and Investments Committee asked him hard questions on poor revenue collection when he was grilled on Thursday last week.
He warned the county officials that anybody found stealing revenue will be arrested and prosecuted.
“I have no more time to answer hard questions about poor revenue collection. For that matter I have no room for people who steal revenue and anybody found will be sacked and prosecuted,” he said.
The chief officers sworn in included Noah Otieno (Finance), Moses Buriri (Sports), Donald Ogweno (Water) and Robert Sangori (Lands).
Orata told the newly sworn-in chief officers to support the implementation of development projects in the county.
“You are expected to generate ideas that will enable our administration to leave a desired legacy. We have been laying the foundation and you are now expected to be swift and dedicated in implementation of development projects in the County,” Orata said. He asked them to embrace integrity in service delivery.