City Hall faces a fall in revenues after embattled governor Mike Sonko offered a two-year waiver of single business permits (SBPs) fees for all new enterprises starting March 1.
Through a notice signed by acting Nairobi county secretary Justus Kathenge, the county said the waiver would attract new investors to the city, especially enterprises owned by women, youths and the disabled.
“Notice is hereby given to the public that the Governor of Nairobi City County…..waived the requirement to obtain a SBPs and associated fees for all new businesses for the first two years from the date of business registration,” reads the notice.
Through the directive, all new traders will be required to display a valid certificate of registration, incorporation certificate or business name issued by the Business Registration Service (BRS) instead of the SBP up to March 2022.
The announcement comes just days after Mr Sonko signed an executive order that transferred to the national government key City Hall functions that account for approximately 80 percent of the budget. The order also put Kenya Revenue Authority in charge of county tax collections.
City Hall collected Sh1.992 billion from SBPs in the 2018/19 period, making it the third biggest source after parking fees at Sh1.95 billion and rates (Sh2.04billion).
SBP charges in the city vary depending on the number of employees in a business, withthe minimum at Sh5, 000 per year. Business Registration Service, the State agency in charge of registering new business, charges Sh850 for a business name while a certificate of incorporation for a private limited company and public limited goes for Sh10, 650.
The waiver of fees on all new businesses comes just days after Mr Sonko, barred from office last December over graft charges, handed over health, transport, planning and development and public works to the central government last month.
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