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Politics ruins revenue collection in Mbale City
A section of Mbale Town. Local council officials in Mbale City have been accused of underdeclaring revenue collections. PHOTO / FILE
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Local leaders say corrupt officials are mishandling revenue collection in the new city
Local leaders in Mbale City have blamed the persistent low revenue collection in the new city on high levels of corruption among council officials.
Mbale collects local revenue from assets such as the abattoir, properties, and markets, among others.
However, last week the city authorities informed the Minister of State for Economic Monitoring in the Office of the President, Mr Peter Ogwang, that they have only been able to collect Shs1m from Shs26 billion Mbale Central Market, the biggest market in the Elgon region annually.
Daily Monitor has learnt that officials collect about Shs15m every year from the roadside markets such as Bugwere and Nylon.
The Mbale City Clerk, Mr David Kyasanku, acknowledged the poor revenue collection but said they have embarked on mapping local revenue sources to increase transparency.
“We need to streamline the processes so that we can meet our local revenue collection target, which is Shs2 billion,” he said.
Mr Kyasanku revealed that the city is implementing digital revenue collection to minimise leakages and increase revenue.
Mr Abdullah Magambo, the deputy speaker for Mbale City, said there is under declaration of local revenue generated.
“The revenue collected is not fully declared and there is also lack of supervision by contract managers on tendered utilities,” Mr Magambo, said.
Mr Steven Masiga, the researcher on urban administration, said revenue collection in Mbale City is a challenge because the duties of various officials aren’t streamlined.
“What business has an education officer got to do with revenue collection and mobilisation of taxes? Until they allow the right people to collect revenue, they will keep lamenting,” Mr Masiga said.
He claimed that in some instances councillors and education officers have been participating in assessment and collection of taxes.
In the previous financial year, the council suffered a shortfall of more than Shs2b in local revenue collection as it only got Shs900m of the projected Shs3.5b.
The shortfall in the revenue collection has prompted minister Ogwang to call for a forensic audit into the local revenue management for the last five financial years in the council.
“How can the market, which was constructed by the government at Shs26 billion, generate only Shs1 million per year?” Mr Ogwang asked.
Mbale Central Market has more than 800 vendors who pay between Shs40, 000 to Shs100, 000 per month for the stalls. About 180 occupants of lockups pay between Shs30, 000 to 100,000 but officials say all the money is never remitted.
Mr Ogwang, who is in Bugisu Sub-region monitoring performance of government projects, accused city council officials of mismanagement and under declaration of revenue for selfish reasons.
“This city has the capacity to generate more revenue but unfortunately it’s being mismanaged. I have called for an audit on all sources of revenue collection in Mbale City, ” Mr Ogwang said.
Vendors told the minister that Mbale Central Market is faced with challenges such as leadership wrangles and lack of utility services such as water and electricity.
Mr Ayub Madoi, the chairperson of Mbale Central Market Traders Association, said vendors are hesitant to pay dues due to lack of water and electricity.
“We are ready to work hand in hand with city leaders to mobilise vendors to pay their dues to increase revenue,” Mr Madoi said.
Mr George Mpungu, the acting commissioner of Local Government and Anti-Corruption at CID headquarters, tasked the council officials to hand over all local revenue collections related documents for investigations.
“Whoever will refuse to hand over documents for investigations will be arrested,” he said.
The Mbale City Mayor, Mr. Kassim Namugali, said failure by the city council to raise local revenue as projected in the budgeting process has impacted greatly on the service delivery.
“However, we are committed as a council to streamlining local revenue collection operations in markets and across,” Mr Namugali, said.
The Mbale Resident City Commissioner, Mr Ahamada Washaki, said: “We are following cases of corruption and declaration of false air. The city authorities connive with market management to declare less revenue.”
Short fall
In the previous financial year, the council suffered a shortfall of more than Shs2b in local revenue collection as it only got Shs900m of the projected Shs3.5b.
