Makueni County Officials Impressed By Laikipias Interdepartmental Synergy

  0  
Makueni county officials on a bench marking visit in Laikipia were impressed by the interdepartmental linkages which have been driving the steady growth of countys own source revenue.
They described the cross-departmental cooperation as one of its kind and expressed their desire to replicate in their county.
This is a wonderful. I am taking home with me a back-to-work report on efficient interdepartmental linkages on revenue management that we should replicate, said Stephen Thiongo Makueni Director of County Revenue.
He said the visit offered him an insight into policy and legislation surrounding enforcement, and how to engage with tax defaulters before engaging third party enforcers like the police or the courts.
The officials visited to learn and share experience on own resource revenue collection and automated revenue collection and an eye opener into the kind of synergy resulting from interdepartmental linkages.
The visiting county noted that the exemplary performance of Laikipia County Revenue Board has debunked the myths of inefficiency surrounding semi-autonomous government bodies, urging other county governments to follow suit.
They noted that semi-autonomous management of revenue collection is a catalyst for accountability in departments as they will not be pulling from different directions.
It means that everyone understands their role towards a collective achievement. Its not just about revenue collectors but all the government staff working to achieve a target, said Mr Leonard Mutuku, an enforcement officer at the Makueni County Department of Administration.
The Makueni officials commended the people-centred approach of conducting business in Laikipia County. They noted that the public sensitization campaign on tax paying is evident from the way the people are tax compliant.
The government, through the tax open week, engages citizens on tax compliance and the finance bill to create awareness on what is expected of them.
Mr Mutuku confessed that he had expected a rigorous enforcement structure to drive revenue growth only to learn that Laikipia managed to surpass its revenue target through more stakeholders sensitization and staff less enforcement.
The success of Laikipia County Revenue Board has continued to attract the interest of colleague counties, more so the surpassing of revenue targets through automation and staff restructuring while still managing to cut its wage bill by a record 42.6 per cent. Laikipia targets to collect over Ksh. 1 billion in the financial year 2019-2020.
Makueni County joins the growing list of counties coming on a benchmarking visit against the Laikipia County Revenue Board. Ms. Wangari Wachira, Chair County Revenue Board said it was a privilege to host Makueni County, and thanked them for their engaging questions.

  Social Media

WHATS NEW