Boda boda operators in Busia have agreed to pay tax to the county government.
But before the tax is implemented, their association’s leadership will convene a meeting with officials from the county revenue department to agree on the amount the motorcycle owners will be remitting as tax to the devolved unit.
Addressing participants during the County Fiscal Strategy Paper stakeholders’ forum at Busia Agricultural Training Centre on Tuesday, county boda boda association chairman Isaac Obwolo said commercial motorcyclists are ready to start paying taxes after signing a memorandum of association with the county government.
There are more than 60,000 boda boda motorcycles in Busia, Obwolo said.
“We need to be seen to contribute towards the development of the county by paying taxes,” he said.
“The 147 officials drawn from all the seven subcounties should sit with those from the county government and agree on modalities before we start paying taxes,” he said.
Obwolo’s response emanated from concerns raised by Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi and county assembly speaker Bernard Wamalwa over boda boda riders’ consistent resistance against a tax that had been introduced for the riders.
Mulomi on Tuesday listed projects the county government had undertaken to boost boda boda riders’ business including the construction of boda boda sheds and offering funds through the County Enterprise Development Fund.
Speaker Wamalwa said the county government cannot offer quality services to residents with a narrow revenue collection base.
“Help raise revenue and you can ask for anything from the county government. I know tax collection has been unpopular but I urge revenue collectors to forge ahead and meet revenue targets,” Wamalwa said.
The county government had in 2014 announced a Sh10 daily tax on every boda boda, but the levy was suspended following violent protests in Busia, Nambale, Butula and Malaba towns against the tax rule.
They claimed their associations had not been consulted before the introduction of the daily Sh10 levy on every motorbike on the road.
In October 2014, boda boda operators in Busia had a rough time engaging police hunting down motorcyclists who did not comply with a new tax policy introduced by the county government.
Most motorbike operators stayed away from the business for almost the entire month as law enforcers mounted roadblocks along the busy Busia-Kisumu road to arrest defaulters of the mandatory monthly tax of Sh300 paid to the county treasury.
Businesses in Busia town were disrupted during the protests.
More than 500 motorcycles were confiscated and their owners arrested for non-payment of the levy.
Some boda boda riders were injured during the protests as they engaged county law enforcement officers.
Among those arrested were a group of boda boda riders who stormed the office of Governor Sospeter Ojaamong demanding the withdrawal of the tax.
If the county maintains the 2014 Sh300 monthly tax for every boda boda rider, the county will earn at least Sh18 million every month from the industry.
