A Survey of the Effectiveness of Automated Revenue Collection Systems in County Governments in Kenya - A Case Study of Kiambu and Taita Taveta County Governments

摘要

This paper examines the effectiveness of using an automated revenue collection system in two counties in Kenya: Taita Taveta and Kiambu County Governments. County governments in Kenya have recently adopted the automated revenue collection systems in order to aid in transparency and accountability of citizens' taxes. @iLabAfrica -Strathmore University provided the solution - CountyPro as a revenue collection system in both counties. The online system has a citizen portal and a government staff portal. This study focuses on the effectiveness of CountyPro system on the backend (staff) portal. A descriptive research design was adopted in order to provide answers to who, what, where, when and how. Questionnaires and interviews were used as the main tool for data collection. The strengths and weaknesses of both systems were also analyzed and also how they work together to bring out efficiency and effectiveness in the day to day operations of county governments. In general all county staff interviewed welcome the idea of an automated revenue collection system with Kiambu County recording a 60 percent increase in revenue as a result of using CountyPro. It is the perception of most county officials that the Point of Sale Terminal is the tool that is used to determine the revenue collected. However, this system by itself is not very effective. It has to be supported by an online system that will give a breakdown of all the kind of revenue that is collected. Counties should ensure that they have laid out proper infrastructure, trained its employees before rolling out of I.T projects. County management should also act as champions for change to help their employees transition from one system to another. Insights to this study will be used to improve on the current system and also help other counties in following the correct guidelines when coming up with a revenue collection system.