This archive report was first published on 17 July 2020.
As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in Kenya, City Hall's revenue collection suffered a significant blow, with a Sh637 million drop in the three months to June.
According to provisional data from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the revenue collector for City Hall, the own-source revenue for the period fell 50% to Sh1.369 billion, down from Sh2.006 billion in a similar period last year.
The decline in revenue coincided with the start of State-enforced restrictions on mass gatherings, social distancing, and the ban on movement into and out of the capital city, as well as the dusk-to-dawn curfew that hit businesses.
Businesses temporarily closed down, and traffic to the city fell in April, resulting in a significant drop in daily parking collections.
However, as the State started easing restrictions, collections picked up, reaching Sh412.149 million in May and Sh588.843 million in June.
"The global pandemic of Covid-19 greatly hampered revenue collection and enhancement initiatives due to business closures and lock-downs across the country," KRA said in its report.
The report did not provide a breakdown of the collections by various revenue streams, including parking, Single Business Permits (SBPs), and rates, which collectively contribute to more than half of City Hall's annual collections.
The drop in revenue sets the stage for another year of missed targets for the Governor Mike Sonko administration, which raised Sh10.25 billion in the 2018/19 year from a target of Sh15.5 billion.
The perennial misses in revenue are blamed on rampant corruption among City Hall officials and weak resources that make it hard to pursue defaulters in a bid to grow the own-source collections.
