The Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir on Monday announced changes aimed at streamlining revenue collection in the county.
Nassir announced the removal of all inspectorate officers from all revenue collection points including Mariakini, Shanzu and Likoni Cess stations.
The governor also said the inspectorate officers deployed in markets and the parking unit will also be removed beginning Wednesday.
He said they will be redeployed to carry out traffic and security enhancement duties.
“I feel that the inspectorate has done well in terms of traffic management and security, going forward, we shall redeploy those who were deployed at the revenue streams including Cess points, markets and parking unit,” he said.
Nassir announced that in their place, the county will deploy the revenue enforcement officers to oversee the revenue collection.
This he said was part of the Rapid Response Initiative he announced he would undertake in his first 100 days in office.
“Our government received the mandate from the people of Mombasa to deliver services. Public expectation is high and rightly so because our people pay hard-earned taxes to the government and they expect services in return,” he said.
The governor said in order to fulfil his responsibility to serve, there is a need to ensure county officers optimise their own source revenue.
“Towards this end, we are today sensitising the general public on our revenue enhancement teams, how they will be presenting themselves to you and the work that they shall be doing,” he said.
This revenue enhancement team, he said, shall comprise 30 members drawn from different departments within the county. Their work from Wednesday shall be to ensure compliance with parking fees across the six subcounties
For the purpose of identification, the governor said that the officers will be branded with reflectors and T-shirts.
They will also have badges with a barcode to enable residents to scan and prove that they are from the county.
He said since they began working on the Cess points as one of the county revenue streams, they have recorded a 70 per cent increase.
“In the past week, through the work done in my Rapid Results Initiative, the county has seen a 70-per cent increase in revenue at Cess points,” Nassir said.
“Revenue collection at the moment varies between Sh500,000 and Sh1.3 million per day from the Cess points. We will be moving to public markets in the coming days.”
The governor also announced that beginning next week, the Kongowea Market will operate on a 24-hours.
He said plans were at an advanced stage to ensure security lights and CCTV cameras are fully installed, adding that a police station will be established inside the market and deploy more inspectorate officers to beef up security.
“During our campaigns, we had given indication that Mombasa will operate as a 24-hour economy, as we wait for the private sector to follow suit. I have directed that commencing Monday next week, the Kongowea market will operate on a 24-hour basis,” Nassir said.
He also said that he had written to the county public service board to embark on a human resource audit of all county personnel.
The audit will touch on placement, promotions and reshuffling of county staff, he said.
“It has come to my attention that we have a strong workforce, but many are underutilised because of wrong placement and deployment," he said.
"After the audit, they shall be reshuffled and redeployed so that we can fully maximise their technical knowhow."
He also said the county will embark on a building and construction audit targeting all ongoing constructions.
The audit he said, will tackle the issue of compliance and also address the sewers which in most cases have been illegally connected to the county’s stormwater system.
Last week, the governor signed two executive orders establishing a taskforce on the status of health and finances in the county.
Both task forces are expected to carry out audits and give recommendations to the governor within the next 60 days.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
