Uasin Gishu revenues double following NYS deployment

By MARK KAPCHANGA

Uasin Gishu County Government revenues have significantly increased following a robust plan to seal parking fees leakages.

In November 2013, the county deployed the National Youth Service (NYS) to provide reinforcement in the collection of fees in bus parks, slaughter houses and street parking which were seen to be fertile grounds for revenue leaks.

Finance Executive Shadrack Sambai told The Standard there had been a fast growth in revenues in the last part of last year as compared to when the County Government took over from the former Eldoret Municipal Council.

“As at December 2013, our collections had appreciated by Sh5.23 million as compared to the same period in 2012. We expect to collect Sh18 million by the end of January 2014 compared to Sh9.2 million raised a year ago,” Mr Sambai said.

He attributed the double upsurge in the income to the NYS, which has played a key role in the enforcement to ticketing and revenue collection and remission.

In November 2013, the County collected Sh407, 710 at the Wholesale Market. This went up to Sh595, 140 in December, representing a 46 per cent rise. In the Main Bus Park, the revenues went up by Sh526, 620 to Sh3.6 million in December.

Mr Sambai says in the Sosiani Matatu Park, the proceeds increased from Sh1.46 million in November to Sh2.08 million a month later, translating to a 42 per cent rise. However, the Street Parking realised a marginal increase of only three per cent from Sh5.09 million to Sh5.25 million.

“In the Slaughter House Management Unit, our collections rose by 29 per cent in a month to Sh565, 300 in December 2013. On average, these key revenue zones represented a 15.45 per cent rise in collections,” he said in an interview.

It is the comparative statistics of between December 2012 and December 2013 that conspicuously brings out the true picture of how the NYS has positively impacted on the collections. In the one year period, the county collects at the Wholesale Market more than doubled from Sh269, 630 in December 2012 to Sh595, 140 in December 2013. In the same period, Main Bus Park income grew by 82 per cent to Sh3.6 million in December 2013.

Documents accessed by this paper shows that the revenues went up by 76.3 per cent to Sh12.085 million within a year, a move that could prompt other counties in the country to follow Uasin Gishu’s path.

“The trend is an indication that there has been massive theft of public money in these spots. The positive correlation between the revenue rise and the deployment of the NYS is evidence enough hat other counties should adopt this model,” said Martin Cheruiyot,” an analyst in Public Finance based in Nairobi.

The Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago says he is determined to rid the entire region of corrupt individuals, who for ages have tainted the image of the county.

“The NYS has the capacity to execute the tasks allocated to them effectively. The County will also engage the Service in the maintenance and construction of feeder roads because they have the capacity and machinery,” he said.

On allegations that he had flouted tendering procedure in the hiring of the NYS team, the Governor said the arrangement was made on government-to-government basis as the Constitution mandates National Government to support the County Governments. He further observed that the move is simply a strategic alliance with the county to drive efficiency in service delivery in line with the County Plans.

“They are not part of county staff as is being claimed out there,” Mr Mandago said.

The Uasin Gishu County Government is also expected to strike a deal with NYS where it will help the County Government of Uasin Gishu in capacity building of the technical staff. The County will also be leasing some of its equipment for road construction and maintenance to reduce cost of construction. In addition, some of the county engineers and other technicians would soon be required to attend some refresher courses at the NYS, for they are said to have best facilities worth exploiting.

The move by the County to seal the revenue loopholes would help corroborate the works of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, which recently claimed in a report that the county was experiencing high corruption cases.  

Matatu owners have lauded the move, saying it will enable the county to offer cutting-edge services to the people. Michael Njoroge, a matatu driver plying Eldoret-Maili Nne route observed that services such as security, garbage collection and street lighting may never be realised unless the collected revenues reach the targeted body.