The county government of Kiambu collected approximately Sh3.6 billion in its own source revenue in the last financial year ending June 30, 2023, placing the county among the top performers in revenue collection.

According to the county’s Department of Revenue report, the collection is Sh485 million more compared to Sh3.1 billion in the previous year.

Although the collection reflects a 72 percent performance level of the Sh5 billion set target and is the greatest ever for the county,  Governor Kimani Wamatangi said it is still inadequate given the capacity of 13 billion.

For the 2023–2024 fiscal year, he already established a target of Sh7.9 billion and a budget of Sh22 billion every year..

“Even if there was an improvement throughout the period, this is hardly a number we can applaud given that it was election season and there were transitional impacts. Over Sh5 billion was collected, however, due to dishonest personnel and system manipulation, about 30% was lost. Several other individuals who never paid us have told our citizens that we will reach the Sh7.9 billion goal without raising current fees and levies. The capacity for government-surveyed collection is Sh13.9 billion, according to Mr. Wamatangi.

The administration’s leadership, in its bid to boost revenue, is banking on a new enterprise resource system (ERP) currently under installation, which is a holistic system that covers the management of finances in all sectors such as hospital management, building approvals, business permits, and other revenue charges, as well as exploring more revenue streams.

Approximately Sh2.5 billion was collected in the last two quarters of the financial year (January to June when the county surpassed set targets in some months.

Sh1.31 billion was collected in January, February, and March against a set target of Sh1.25 billion, meaning the county hit the mark by about Sh100 million.

Sh1.51 billion was collected in April, May and June.

In July, August, and September, Sh534 million was realized against a target of Sh1.25 billion, while in October, November, and December, when Mr. Wamatangi was grappling with transition intrigues, Sh585 million was raised.

From physical planning, Sh476 million was realized compared to Sh364 million in the previous year (16 percent increase),

The governor was forced to terminate the Electronic Development Application System (EDAMs) due to concerns that developers were submitting applications but would become frustrated due to the system’s frequent outages as a result of the low performance, which has been attributed to the lack of a reliable system that ensures efficiency in the building plans approval process. Some developers had remained for as long as three years without having their applications processed, and the governor claimed that corrupt officials would then demand bribes to process them outside of the system, depriving the county of revenue in the county’s booming real estate market.

From National Health Insurance Fund (N rebates, Sh501 million was raised compared to Sh357 million in the other year (29 percent).

From land rates, Sh398 million was collected against Sh353 million in 2021/2022.

Vehicle parking revenue raised Sh308 million compared to Sh286 million the previous year, while single business permits raised  Sh351 million compared to Sh249 million in 2021/2022 (29 percent increase).

However, the county boss said this was undervalued, saying the potential is Sh1 billion.

From the physical planning stream, Sh746 million was realized against an Sh1 billion target (69 percent) land rates (Sh398 million), while Sh23 million was collected from the county rental houses.

Sh661 million was realized as fees from the county’s 116 health facilities and Sh502 million from NHIF rebates. In contrast, in public health, Sh164 million was released, representing a performance level of 73, 84, and 96 percent performance, respectively.

According to the report, Thika Sub-County raised Sh468 million, which was a three percent increase; Ruiru raised Sh452 million, which was a decrease of 3 percent, making it the only area that dipped its performance, while Juja grew its performance level by 27 percent to give Sh369 million.

In Kiambu Township, Sh301 million was realized compared to Sh239 million in the previous year, representing a performance level of 21 percent.

From Kikuyu, Sh195 million was realized compared to Sh130 million in the previous year, representing a performance level of 33 percent, while Kiambaa raised its performance by 27 percent after collecting Sh115 million.

“There was a slight improvement in both departments and sub-counties, but we still didn’t achieve the set targets, which means much more work and strategies need to be put in place to ensure that the new targets are met,” Finance County Executive Committee member Ms. Nancy Kirumba said.