The Mountain Journal
editor@themountainjournal
Laikipia County Government has unveiled a strategy to increase its own source revenue in the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 financial years.
The devolved unit focuses on collecting more revenue from hospital fees and charges, land rates, business permits, vehicle parking fees, resource exploitation, and technical services fees.
According to Laikipia Revenue Board chairman Macharia Gakiri, the county seeks to increase its revenue collection by Sh700 million in 2026/27 from Sh980million collected in 2022/2023.
Gakiri and CEO Kamunya Karundo said in 2019/20 the county collected Sh728 million, in 2020/21 Sh840 million, in 2021/22 Sh902 million and in 2022/23 Sh980 million, reflecting an increment.
The strategy initiated by the board recommends the health department procure specialised medical equipment and recruit specialists in efforts to restore public confidence in the services offered but also attract those with private medical cover.
In efforts to protect the kitty from theft, the board calls for verification of hospital bills by several officers before they are passed for payment.
“This will detect omissions, errors and irregularities, including fraud,” read part of the report.
The report also calls for the formulation of the Laikipia County Anti-Vandalism Act to enable deployment of the security personnel assigned to guard the public toilets after a series of vandalisation.
“Assign personnel to manage the toilets to ensure timely reporting of the incidents of vandalism,” proposes the report.
In the trade department, the board recommended the upgrade of Thomson Falls Ziplining and a recreational park while focusing on the emerging issues.
On the collection of the conservancy fee collected by the Water Service Providers, the board calls for the establishment of a task force consisting of representatives from the water department, revenue department, and water companies to evaluate the efficiency of collecting conservancy fees by the board.
The report in our possession outlines that the board will compare the current collection and remittance processes carried out by the water companies in the past.
The report says the success in the automation of the revenue collection processes has enabled cashless revenue administration and collaboration between the revenue board and other departments in revenue collection.
The board are keen on the increased staff establishment, building their competencies and ethics, elaborate data collection and objective setting of revenue targets.
He added the enhanced service delivery programme has led to the growth of the revenue base, focusing on financial years 2025/26 – 2026/27.
Governor Joshua Irungu says the strategy paper states that the report will guide towards the comprehensive approach to revenue enhancement, focusing on innovative mechanisms and streamlined processes for the Own Source Revenue, targeting effectiveness and efficient collection.
“This document is the culmination of extensive consultations with stakeholders, careful analysis of our financial landscape, and a commitment to transparent and accountable governance,” says the governor.
The county total expenditures of Sh 6.5 billion, comprising Sh 5.3 billion recurrent expenditures and Sh 1.2 billion development expenditure for FY 2022/23
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