Kisumu County has partnered with Safaricom to unveil a new Integrated County Revenue Management System (ICRMS) to offer a one-stop platform for residents to access and pay for county services.
Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o remarked that the automated system will not only enhance accessibility and transparency but also boost its Own Source Resource (OSR) collection.
“With this innovative approach, we hope to collect the county a potential target of Ksh2.2 billion and build on that next year. We have co-created this platform with Safaricom to provide a seamless and user-friendly experience for Kisumu residents and county officials to contribute to the overall efficiency of revenue management,” Prof Nyong’o said during the launch at the City Hall.
He added that the new revenue collection system is purely cashless and it has been made available on several channels to support seamless revenue collection, including the Safaricom App, Mobile App, and WhatsApp platforms.
While thanking the Kisumu County Revenue Board and Safaricom for their tedious work of putting the new system in place, Prof. Nyong’o noted that the revenue collectors have undergone adequate training on how to use and monitor the new platforms.
He expressed his satisfaction with the real-time verification of transactions and payments which has been made possible using secure unique identifiers including QR codes.
In addition, the system ensures Real-time reporting of all revenue transactions across all departments in the county.
Safaricom’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer Cynthia Kropac pointed out that the ICRMS would address the county’s challenges in optimizing revenue collection, administration, and reporting.
“The innovative platform will support various revenue services, including parking, cess, markets, advertising, property rates, and approvals, among other revenue services reducing queues and wait times at the county offices,” she affirmed.
Kropac emphasized that the ICRMS is designed to enhance citizen satisfaction by providing convenient payment options for services where residents could pay through various channels, including USSD (*427#), WhatsApp, the MyKisumu App, and a web self-service portal.
“The system which is Kenyan-made and locally-made ensures real-time integration with payment channels like MPESA and banks for accurate reporting and reconciliation of transactions. This will enable enhanced visibility and control are provided through dashboards accessible to executives, enabling effective monitoring of revenue performance and operations,” she said.
Kropac further revealed that to enable end-to-end support, the East Africa Device Assembly Kenya Limited has come on board to provide smartphones required to run the revenue application used by dedicated revenue collectors. The devices are managed securely to ensure they are purpose-fit to run the revenue collection services effectively.
Prof. Nyong’o informed that public sensitization is currently ongoing and he urged the county staff to remain disciplined and committed to the successful implementation of this great innovation.
By Fredrick Odiero
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