This archive report was first published on 15 November 2019.
Documents tabled before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee in 2019 revealed a shocking decline in revenue collection in Homa Bay County. The county collected Sh232 million in the 2014-15 financial year, but this figure dipped to Sh192 million in the 2015-16 financial year and plummeted further to Sh144 million in the 2016-17 financial year.
Appearing before the committee, Governor Cyprian Awiti could not explain the process used to hire casuals to collect revenue. It emerged that some of the money collected was spent without banking, and the county collected Sh40.4 million from public health services but spent Sh10.8 million at source, against regulations guiding revenue collection.
According to the documents, the casuals were paid 10 per cent of the total amount they collected. The deployment of these officers across the county occasioned a sharp decline in revenue collection, from Sh232 million to Sh101 million.
Senator Moses Kajwang', who chaired the committee, questioned the county's revenue collection methods, saying it was apparent that the officers involved in the collection were pocketing money they collected from local businesses.
Mr. Awiti defended his administration against the decline in revenue collection claims, citing the 2017 elections and the migration of fish to neighbouring Uganda as causes of the decline.
He also faced criticism over Sh742 million pending bills raised in the Auditor General's report. An audit report for the financial year ending June 2018 indicated that the devolved unit understated the pending bills by Sh38 million.
