Nairobi Assembly to query KRA over revenue

The Nairobi County Assembly has approved a motion that will pave way for setting up a committee to look into falling revenue.

KRA was mentioned during the debate in the assembly on November 1, because it was involved in revenue collection in 2021.

Nairobi Revenue System was set up at a cost of Sh160 million and came into use during the reign of defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services that took over some county roles.

"The essence of this motion is to bring sense to our revenue system, the issue of revenue in this county is wanting," said Majority Leader Peter Imwatok who moved the motion.

"For the last one-week Nairobi County has not collected anything, all the systems are down but M-Pesa you can pay, where are the physical appearance of the system, who manages it and who audits them," he added.

The 13-member ad hoc committee to investigate the county revenue collection system include Imwatok, Paul Kados Kiguathi, Anthony Kiragu, Jane Musangi, Wilfred Odallo, cyrus Matara, Nicholas Juma,

Others are, Fatiya Abdullahi, Fredrick Njogu, Carrington Heho, Joyce Muthoni, Daina Katile and James Karis.

The Majority leader said once the committee settles down, they would also be required to establish if the system is licensed by the Communications Authority of Kenya.

At the same time, the committee will be required to summon KRA to shed light if it is true that the authority developed the revenue collection system as purported.

"The committee is not only supposed to do justice for the assembly but also for the people of Nairobi," Diana Katile told the Assembly.

It was also noted that the Nairobi Revenue System is always down hence it cannot be accurate on the amount that the county collects.

Attempts to probe the system comes days after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) listed Nairobi among four counties with serious accountability deficits in their revenue management systems.

"In the emerging patterns of automated looting of public funds, contracts for revenue management systems are designed with inbuilt corruption," EACC stated.

Majority Whip Moses Ogeto noted that the recommendations of the committee will help EACC in their job.