BUSIA, Kenya, Oct 21 – Busia Governor Dr Paul Otuoma has sent stern warning to rogue employees of the County Government who are engaging in criminal and unethical service delivery especially in the revenue collection sector.
In his address during 59th Mashujaa Day celebrations at Busia County Stadium, Otuoma said he established a task force chaired by his Deputy Mr. Arthur Odera to do an inquiry on the true status of various sectors of the county government as currently established and make informed administrative and policy decisions.
“In the preliminary findings of the taskforce and other intelligence agencies, it has been established that there are serious local revenue leakages, with some revenue officers owning private accounts where county revenue is deposited by revenue collectors before a percentage of it is deposited to county revenue collection account,” said Otuoma terming this act as criminal and unethical.
The Governor also pointed out that there are cases of officers colluding with undeserving clients to waive hospital user fees and NHIF payments in hospitals as well. Following this, he directed the said officers to meet him on Friday in his office for appropriate action.
The Governor however called for maximum cooperation between all the departments and the County auditor for a comprehensive report.
Odera concurred with the findings saying that it is a serious issue that has affected Busia County greatly in terms of service delivery and development.
“We are determined to ensure that we have systems in place that will see us collect enough revenue,” said Odera as he called on all business people to get genuine receipts of taxation to enable the Government to discharge its mandate.
This comes just a few days after Governor Otuoma named County Executive Committee Members who are yet to undergo vetting by the County Assembly and subsequent approval.
Led by the Speaker, Eng. Fredrick Odilo the legislators confirmed to work hand in hand with the executive to full realization of the Governor’s manifesto and the wishes of the people of Busia in line with their oversight responsibility.
Busia County Commissioner, Sam Ojwang on matters of security and other problems facing Busia residents, called for a collective responsibility and more cooperation and collaboration to address insecurity in the county.
Ojwang asked the governor to ensure the county leadership works closely with the county security apparatus to curb pockets of insecurity incidents in the entire county.
