Kisumu County collects Sh200 million more after launch of new e-system

Kisumu County's revenue collection has increased by Sh200 million following the launch of Electronic Trade Licensing (ETL) system.

Although the increase fell short of the target, revenue officials are optimistic they will post good returns if ETL system is enforced ahead of the fiscal year.

County chief finance officer Cephas Kasera told The Standard they missed the set target because of some cartels that were still secretly running a parallel receipting system.

"The cartels are still operating discreetly but we have stepped up supervision around urban estate businesses and rural centres that the cartels target," explained Kasera.

The county had targeted to collect an additional Sh300 million after the launch of ETL system, which replaced the traditional single business permit.

Now, the county has enlisted the support of technology-savvy university students on recess to help them train the business community especially in the rural areas on how to use the system.

County director of technology and innovation Edward Omol said through the new web-based payment system, traders can renew their existing businesses permits online.

"Graduates who are techno-savvy are helping us a great deal to train business owners who are not computer literate. They also assist in collection of data of all businesses," he said.

Yesterday, the county deputy director of revenue collections Peter Ogada and chief planning officer George Anyonga said currently, Kisumu County collects Sh1 billion annually.

But Anyonga argued the money was too little to ensure successful implementation of development projects in all the seven sub-counties.

"The Sh1 billion is way below the projected revenue target of either Sh1.5 or 2 billion annually. We still hope that with ETL, we could reach the targeted," Anyonga explained.

During the launch of ETL, Governor Jack Ranguma said the new revenue collection system, financed by the World Bank, was another major milestone in the county.

Meanwhile, the county government has started paying the Sh700 debt owed to service providers.

But Mr Kasera said several contractors and suppliers doing shoddy work would not be paid until they improved their work to required standards.

He said the over 200 service providers were being paid after weeks of physical verification of the projects.