Garissa tax payments should be made directly to the county's bank accounts or paybill numbers to end stealing, a task force on revenue has recommended.
All revenue officers including those working in hospitals and municipalities should be made answerable to the department and all transactions strictly recorded for transparency and accountability.
These are among gaps in revenue collection that the task force want to be sealed for better efficiency.
Its report was tabled during a meeting of chief officers convened by county secretary Abdi Ali.
The six-member team was appointed in October last year and was headed by Lands chief officer Sirat Aden.
The team recommended that the use of land information system in the lands, urban and municipality directorates for revenue management be immediately stopped, saying it was open to abuse.
The task force recommended that young and qualified professionals be engaged for revenue collection to stamp out cartels that have stamped their roots in the department.
The team urged the county government to streamline revenue collection for mining gypsum and other minerals, including sand harvesting.
Tax payment should be encouraged and the county government should introduce a reward for institutions that demonstrated a high level of integrity in tax compliance, the report says.
Ali said the county has taken measures to collect revenue from Safaricom masts spread across Garissa.
He urged residents to cooperate and pay their taxes in time and without being pushed to do so as has been the case.
“Residents should know that for them to continue enjoying services from the county government, they must be ready to cooperate by paying taxes because at the end of the day the same money they pay goes towards improving services. We can do little or nothing without money,” Ali said.
He promised the adoption of the team's recommendations to streamline revenue collection.
"The report had captured certain grey areas that need immediate attention and the government will pronounce itself in the coming weeks to stem the tide of losses witnessed in the past."
Other members in the task force included chief officers Mahat Salah (Trade), Hassan Anshur (Revenue), Hussein Farah (Public Works), Abdirahman Shalle (Garissa Municipality) and County Attorney Ismail Aden.
edited by p.o
