Webuye municipal recession survival strategies

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-10-06 16:59:00 Read 175 Times

The Webuye municipal council mayor has stated that despite the municipal council not qualifying to get the LATF funds from the Ministry of Local Government, the municipal has managed to sustain itself through its revenue collection from factories around the region.   Mr. Ali Machani Mtoka the mayor of the council says he picked up the Council when it was in a bad state, it had low income, the workers were not being paid and the council had large debts that were being deducted from the workers salary to clear.    “In three years now, the Municipal has not been receiving Local Authority Trust Funds since it had debts and didn’t qualify for the funds, but that has not stopped us from working we have set in place strategies to ensure that the council is running,” says Mr.Machani.   He also mentioned that in conjunction with other councilors of the Municipal they have been in talks with the  Minister in the Ministry of Local Government to see to it that the council receives the funds.   “In the mean time as we wait for word from the Ministry we are utilizing every opportunity we have to get income through revenue in to the council,” said Mr.Machani.   He mentioned that the Butali Sugar Millers since April this year have not been paying CESS money which is paid to the local Authority to maintain road network, same to West Kenya Millers also since their started operation Nzoia Sugar Company which used to pay them had stopped at some point because of some misunderstandings about the zone it lies in but they have had consultations with the Managing Director and have resolved.   He stated that the cash from those institutions helps to solve the main problem of paying the staffs of the council.   The Municipal Council is also getting cash from the town plot owners who pay rent to the council and through the council licenses to business men. “There are business people who have not been paying the Municipal Council the license levy and we have tried our best to convince them to make them understand the importance of paying the linceses and most of them are now obliging,” says Mr.Machani.   He added that there are some organizations and institutions that owed the council lots of money which if they paid will be able to sustain the Municipal council for some time.   Mr.Machani stated the example of the Kenya Railway also owed the council Sh. 5 Million and the Masinde Muliro University which owes it an arrears of Sh.1 Million.   “With that money repaid we will be able to pay the debts so that we can qualify to get LATF funds and pay workers well hence motivate them to work,” says Mr.Machani.   He also complained of Pan Paper Mills’s closure for having contributed a big deal to the cash problem in the council since the council used to depend a lot on the revenue from Pan paper. The Paper Mill used to contribute about Sh3 Million to the council and its closure has had a negative impact on the council and set backs.   “We believe that if Pan Paper will be re-opened soon then the council is bound to benefit a big deal since it was the main contributor to the council’s income,” says Mr.Machani.