Thread: Nairobi City County Rates Amnesty. I cut my teeth as an accountant during the years of Business Process Re-engineering in the 90s. I championed a few automation processes, and it was amazing how much folks were willing to invest in technology and not let it work for them.

In one case, I joined an organization which had invested in, and got PwC consulting them through installing Sun Systems Accounting, yet the accountant was still maintaining a manual and Excel based Cashbook. This meant working late and weekends to keep them all up to date.

When after ensuring its full functioning, I announced the shut down date for the manual systems to leave only the Sun System up, jaws dropped. I was warned that things will go wrong. I insisted.

When I was leaving 4 years later, the accountant’s farewell remarks were about how much her life had changed, with no more working late or weekends. And time for family and self development. Working systems improve everyone’s life.

I live in Meru and have rates obligations in NAIROBI. In its wisdom, NAIROBI City County (NCC) does not consider it their duty to bill for rates. They leave it to you to find out and pay.

The consequence is that people who consistently pay monthly electricity bills bigger than their annual rates bill wind up with rates arrears running into 10 years. Penalized at compounded 3% per month, annual rates of Kes 6,000 becomes a debt of Kes 700,000 in 12 year!

To rate payers relief, a penalties amnesty happens once in a while like the one now running from 15th Sept-15th Oct for NCC. The process of payment and getting cleared for this is what prompted this thread.

NCC has USSD *235# through which one can enquire the rates payable, and make payment. The system has been updated with the rates payable after waiver of the penalty. They also have an ePayments Portal, https://epayments.nairobi.go.ke , which serves a similar purpose and is working.

It is therefore possible for me to check and pay my rates using Mpesa or Bank transfer from the comfort of my tree shade in Meru, and everyone is left happy. NCC can get daily logs of payments from their system and clear the penalties off all those paying in the Amnesty period.

But what do they choose to require of me? 1. To physically got to one of their Cash Offices and get a Bill printed. 2. Send me to a bank to pay the rates. For some reason they emphasize Coop Bank as the preferred one. 3. I come back to cash office with paying slip for receipting.

As is expected, the queues at these cash offices are dreadful! Why is this necessary when the are is such investment in robust systems that will work well if let to? How can this be happening in 2020? And KRA, the new revenue collecting agent is happy to go by it?