MCAs push for audit of Embu revenue collection on missed targets

A section of Embu ward representatives on Friday called for the assessment of the county’s revenue system due to persistent collection short falls.

According to the County Assembly’s Budget and Appropriation Committee chairman Harrison Mwaluko, the Embu County Revenue Authority (Ecra) has never met the targets set during budget making.

The Mwea MCA said the missed targets lead to shelving of development projects every year.

Kagaari South MCA Robert Ireri wondered why revenue collection had not been fully automated, yet the legislature adopted the resolution to install a Sh100 million electronic revenue platform.

The county has been grappling with revenue leakages for the last seven years even with Ecra in place, he added.

While supporting calls to form an ad-hoc committee to probe the operations of Ecra, Makima MCA Phillip Nzangi reiterated that it was important for the Assembly to check whether the electronic revenue collection system was working.

He accused revenue collectors had reverted to the manual system to avoid accountability.

Additionally, Majority Leader Michael Njeru called for an “incisive audit” of the point-of-sale machines that are part of revenue collection automation.

He stated that there were reports the gadgets were being used as a conduit for siphoning money on behalf of “powerful individuals” in the county.

Gaturi North MCA Paul Muchangi said Ecra collects less than what the then Local Authorities used to get.

Many counties have seen their collections drop in the Covid era when the State restricted movement to reduce spread.