By the time you are reading this, almost all the counties will have seen demonstrations protesting increase in taxes and all manner of levies. So lets as try and get to the bottom of this mess.
Almost all counties have increased levies from market fees, cess, business permits to the comical like in Kakamega where the government there is proposing to levy a fee of sh 200 for every person viewing a body at funerals. Granted, the governments need resources to offer services and the " development" the governors had promised during election campaigns. My biggest grouse with with the governors is the manner in which they are seeking to raise revenue.
Lets take a step back to the Kibaki presidency and see what an on about. Kibaki's government went on a campaign to raise the amount of taxes netted not through raising the tax rates but by simply having the KRA collect all the money that it was supposed to collect and it did this in a number of innovative ways;
1. The government first started by closing all loopholes that were being used to evade and avoid paying taxes through legislation and retraining its officers.
2. The government went on a campaign to sensitize the populace on the importance of paying taxes. Remember the slogan " kulipa ushuru ni kujitegemea".
These and other efforts ensured that the government expenditure trippled without having to borrow heavily, even at on point the government was able to fund 95% of its budget from taxes.
This i believe is the way that county governments should go, instead of doubling permits, licences and levies, the governments should first make sure that they have collected all that is due under the old rates. This my friends will not only ensure there are no protests but will also make investing in the counties cheaper. Remember immediately the governors came to office, they were falling over themselves in organising investor conferences and promising all manner of concessions, but this time around they are competing on who will kick out investors.
