The Bungoma County government is planning to join hands with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to address the tax collection issue in the County, according to Governor Wycliffe Wangamati. Speaking at Webuye ACK Primary School during the school’s thanksgiving ceremony, Governor Wangamati said he had a meeting with his cabinet, and a solution is needed to deal with the nagging issue of County taxes collection, which he said has been politicized. This comes days after demos at Chwele market by businessmen who called for better services, vowing not to pay the taxes imposed by the County government until something changes. Two MCAs were arrested after being accused of leading the protests.
The Bungoma Governor said paying taxes is a must and no one is exempted, adding that while he plans to have a meeting with stakeholders, the issue of paying or not paying taxes shouldn’t be negotiable. KRA will be contracted from 1st July, and business people will have to deal with the revenue collection body instead of the County government. He said political sideshows have posed a major challenge in tax collection, and the County government collects only Kshs 400 million instead of Kshs 1.5 billion. He urged leaders not to politicize the issue but instead find amicable ways of solving problems facing the business community.
On education matters, the Bungoma Governor pledged to work closely with the Maraka MCA to build a modern ECDE class in Webuye ACK primary school and he also tasked the school management to write a proposal in order to receive funds worth Kshs 1 million from the County government to cater for the school’s infrastructural development, as the school risks being closed due to a lack of toilets and classrooms. He also promised to make Webuye and Chwele municipalities in order to benefit from World Bank infrastructure funds, similar to the ones benefitting Bungoma and Kimilili, which received Kshs 300 million for road connectivity. He said he intends to present a Bill in the County assembly and thereafter start public participation fora, to set up Webuye municipality, which will bring together the constituencies of Webuye East and Webuye West.