Embu County Government is rolling out an automatic revenue collection system that is expected to seal all loopholes for revenue pilferage.

Governor Cecily Mbarire said the system developed in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT and Safaricom will make it possible to monitor revenue collected in real time.

She said her government’s revenue collection grew from Sh 350 to Sh 679 million in the last one year and automating the system is expected to grow it further to Sh 1 billion.

The governor was speaking at her boardroom Wednesday morning when she witnessed the swearing in of the first Embu County Revenue Authority (ECRA) Board members.

The board was established by the enactment of a law by the Embu County assembly four years ago but has never been constituted until now.

The Board will be headed by Eng Benson Kinga who will be chairman, while the members include the County Solicitor Kimani Karanja, Ms Jennifer Nyaga, Sophie Kaburu, James Ireri, Eric Njeru, Duncan Nyaga Muratia and Damiano Muthee, who is
the County Chief Officer for Finance.

Ms. Mbarire put the county’s revenue officers on notice that forthwith, any of them found collecting revenue in cash will be summarily dismissed, saying the time when the county government entertained cases was over.

She cited cess collection points, markets, bus and car parks as some of the notorious revenue loss risk areas and said officers in those departments will need to pull up their socks.

Source: Kenya News Agency

SWAKOPMUND: The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) has so far paid over N.dollars 100 million to more than 46 000 individual taxpayers since the commencement of the mass tax refund exercise in December.

The refund which spans from 1991 to 2023, according to NamRA is to benefit over 63 000 taxpayers, with the lowest refund amount being N.dollars 100 while the highest is N.dollars 101 959.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, NamRA Chief of Strategic Communications and Support Engagements, Yarukeekuro Ndorokaze, highlighted the positive strides made and the impact on taxpayers by NamRA.

He noted that out of the 78 441 tax returns processed, 46 941 refunds were successfully paid to 46 772 individual salaried parsons and pensioners.

‘The cumulative value of these successful refunds was N.dollars 100.9 million, a significant financial relief provided to eligible taxpayers. While the majority of refunds were successfully processed, unfortunately 31 500 refunds, totalling N.dollars 56.9 million, were rejected for
various reasons,’ Ndorokaze said.

He explained that the rejection criteria encompassed outstanding returns, unpaid liabilities and no bank account numbers, amongst other factors.

The revenue agency has therefore urged taxpayers to proactively address the identified shortcomings to avoid refund rejections going forward, and ensure the swift release of their refunds.

The Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi during the tabling of the 2024/25 budget last week also announced a N.dollars 1.4 billion Government settlement in once-off legacy tax liabilities for selected public enterprises whose funding was severely reduced due to fiscal consolidation in previous years.

The enterprises include the University of Namibia (UNAM), TransNamib, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), New Era Corporation, the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (FishCor) and the Roads Contractor Company (RCC).

Shiimi said this is an exceptional once-off exercise to clear the legacy debt of public enterpris
es accumulated prior to the establishment of NamRA.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency