- "We are alarmed to discover that the revenue systems have never been audited since their automation in 2013," he said.
- Imwatok is leading an ad-hoc committee of 10 members who are probing and will reveal how tax and revenue paid by Nairobi residents are utilized.
Image: Handout
Nairobi revenue systems haven't been audited since 2013, Nairobi County Assembly Majority leader Peter Imwatok has claimed.
Addressing the media on Thursday, Peter Imwatok claimed that the lack of an audit has made it impossible to accurately determine the actual revenue collected.
"We are alarmed to discover that the revenue systems have never been audited since their automation in 2013," he claimed.
Imwatok is leading an ad-hoc committee of 10 members who are currently probing and will reveal how tax and revenue paid by Nairobi residents are collected and utilized and where the systems are located no matter the circumstances that may come along.
So far the committee has initiated meetings with county executives from the Finance and ICT departments, and service providers who are expected to shed more light.
"We urged all witnesses to cooperate. Nevertheless, we caution against any attempts to frustrate the committee's mandate," Imwatok stated.
The ad-hoc committee is set to hold its public hearing session at Charter Hall next week on December 13 and 14.
The Imwatok-led committee will take the public views on the matter.
"We would like to assure the citizens of Nairobi that the committee is steadfast and committed to uncovering the truth behind bewildering the collection of revenue in Nairobi," he said.
Details from a recent committee sitting allege that officials from the Nairobi county government have never seen or owned the city's revenue system.
Chief Officer Tirus Wainaina claimed that Nairobi Revenue Service, a system used by Nairobi county to collect revenue is controlled by a mysterious man.
Wainaina made the revelation during an ad hoc committee session chaired by Imwatok.
The committee was tasked to investigate the unexplained drop in revenue collection despite the presence of NRS.
The chief officer claimed he had only communicated with the mysterious man through the ICT ministry.
He also claimed his mode of communication with the mysterious man was via email or phone call.
“When we want to contact NRS or when the system is down, we formally contact the ICT ministry to rectify the issue. The ministry gave us his contacts for inquiries,” he said.
“I do not want to confirm whether he is an employee there or not; all I know is that he has the knowledge of the system."
NRS was introduced to Nairobi County by the Kenya Revenue Authority during the tenure of the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services.
NMS tenure expired in March 2022 but was extended for a further six months to September 2022.
After the expiry of the term of service in September, the taxman handed over the revenue collection function to Nairobi government.
However, KRA continued to collect revenue on behalf of the county.
In his defence, Finance executive Charles Kerich said the county only relied on NRS for the provision of proof of payment.
He said the platform does not handle the county's daily revenue collection.
“There is a notion that revenue collected by the county is remitted to NRS, which is not true. The case is that the NRS system is a platform used to generate invoices and receipts. It then updates to show that you have paid your dues," he said
"The money is banked into Nairobi county's accounts at Equity and Cooperative banks. No money goes to NRS."
The Finance boss said the county is in the process of developing its own revenue collection system.
The 13-member ad hoc committee has 60 days to table its report before the Nairobi county assembly.