Makueni and Kwale Counties stand to lose revenue from Mtito Andei and Mackinon Road towns following an order directing traders and business owners from the two areas to remit their levies to county government of Taita Taveta.
- In a notice in a local newspaper, the Taita Taveta county ordered the traders not to remit levies to the two counties, or do so at their own risk.
- The dispute now means that traders in both towns are stuck in-between, unsure of who to remit levies to or risk enforcement.
- It also exemplifies some of the post-devolution complications, where new boundaries did not address pre-existing disputes or changed pre-existing municipal boundaries, creating new disputes.
“We make reference to ELC Petition No.33 of 2021 in the environment and land court at Mombasa and notify all members of the public, business owners and traders in Mackinnon and Mtito Andei towns that further to the court order issued on 23 March 2022, the court issued another order on 12 February 2024 to be the sole authority to issue business permits and to levy county taxes in Mtito Andei and Mackinnon Road towns,” reads a statement from County Secretary, Taita Taveta.
Taita Taveta says any person who remits levies to or obtains business permit from Makueni or Kwale County shall not only be deemed to have violated the court order but will also be in possession of an invalid business permit and will be compelled to make another payment to the designated accounts.
During the first six months of FY 2023/24 period, County governments generated a total of KSh 19.95 billion from their own source revenue (OSR), which was 24.9 per cent of the annual target of KSh 80.20 billion. The realised OSR is an improvement compared to KSh 13.11 billion generated in a similar period in FY 2022/23.
According to the Office of Controller of Budget, during the first half of the year, Taita Taveta County received KSh 2.09 billion as the equitable share of the revenue raised nationally.
- It also received KSh 0.5 million as additional allocations/conditional grants, a cash balance of KSh 37, 185 from FY 2022/23 and raised KSh 177.07 million as own-source revenue (OSR).
- The raised OSR includes Kshs.85.54 million as Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) and KSh 91.53 million ordinary OSR.
- The total funds available for budget implementation during the period amounted to KShs 2.26 billion.
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