Why traders opt to dodge askaris than pay for licence

Pandemonium breaks out whenever rumours spread of county inspectorates checking business licences. When the county officials finally arrive at a particular site, all they see are closed doors and deserted corridors.

This is a trend that cuts across rural and urban areas. Many businesses are operating with expired licences or without any. The trend frustrates both the county governments and the business community. The counties miss out on revenue while the traders must keep closing their businesses to avoid arrest and heavy fines.

Betty Wakio owns a hairdressing salon at the Coast. This month, she closed for a week as county government officials roamed her locality checking business licences. “The licence costs Sh4,000 a year but I don’t have the money,” she says.

Sometimes, county inspectorate officers pounce in plain clothes catching traders by surprise. Those without business licences get bundled into packed county vehicles and driven off to court. The fines the traders pay in court are usually higher than the fees charged for the licences they were avoiding.

Licences for small-scale businesses range from Sh2,000 to Sh4,000 depending on the county. Shops, beauty salons, groceries and barber shops are included in this category. Bars and restaurants attract additional charges, with some counties charging as much as Sh60,000 for a bar licence. Movie shops attract extra fees from copyright organisations.

County governments have fees for branded windows, advertising banners and branded vehicles. Traders in market stalls pay a daily fee that ranges across counties from Sh30 to Sh50. Vendors of smokies and eggs are required to obtain health certificates to operate their mobile eateries.

Calvin Onyango, a bartender in one of the residential areas, sometimes sells behind closed doors for fear of county askaris. The owner of the bar has not obtained a liquor licence. “I have to be very careful whenever I hear that askaris are around. Sometimes they move around at night," Onyango explains. Recently, a nearby bar was raided by county askaris apparently for not having a licence.

Many traders say business permits are unaffordable because much of their income goes into urgent day-to-day household expenses such as food, house rent and school fees for the children.

Some counties have a licensing system where all business permits expire on December 31. Traders are then required to renew their business licences from January 2. A trader setting up shop in September might be reluctant to pay for a permit that is going to expire in only three months.

The trader may therefore decide to wait till the following January to get a licence that lasts a full year. County governments could get more revenue if they made business licences valid for 12 months regardless of the date they are obtained.

“Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," Jesus Christ advised many years ago when asked about taxes.

It, therefore, behoves the business sector to get valid trading licences to avoid the inconveniences of playing hide and seek with county government revenue officers.

WATCH: The latest videos from the Star