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Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru revealed that automation of the revenue collection system will go a long way in ramping up the collection more levies.
Appearing on Citizen TV, governor commented that there are many challenges associated when it comes to collecting revenue in the country more so at the county level.
She confessed that many people felt the pinch when it came to revenue collection with most of them feeling as if they are being robbed.
A photo of Governor Ann Waiguru at the 9th National and County Coordinating Summit held in Nakuru on February 10, 2023
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Anne Waiguru
“The economy needs to be doing well for people to stop feeling like you are oppressing them,” commented Waiguru.
She commented that the dangers of people feeling overtaxed is very real and can have very dire effects on a politician. She added that as a politician you can’t quite push for revenue collection when going on an election but after the election period.
The chair of the Council of Governors (CoG) added that automation of revenue collection was key even though it was met with cases of sabotage.
“In my county we automate but just when we are pushing for revenue to be paid you will find there is a certain collision between certain officers who switch off the power so that they revert to the manual system so it slows down, the challenges of governance is imminent,” complained Waiguru.
The ex-devolution Cabinet Secretary added that this type of sabotage is done by people who don’t want to pay taxes or the people who administer the tax system who for a long time had a mentality that tax collection should not be a thorough process.
She argued that it would take time to change people’s mindset and that this was a new dispensation aimed at curbing cases of tax evasion and sabotage.
Waiguru noted that most counties had fallen short of the minimum target given to county governments on revenue collection by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).
She added that the automation process was about 80% complete in Kirinyaga and was quickly taking shape in the other counties as well.
This came after a row between the bar owners in Kirinyaga and the governor as it emerged that they had not paid taxes amounting to over Ksh 100 million.
Kenyan currency notes.
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collision tax evasion
