Traders doing business in Kibera have been asked to pay taxes to support the county government to make it easier for the county government to fulfil its development agendas before 2017 elections.
Martin Otundo, a county council officer speaking on Sunday in Kibera, said that traders should pay daily taxes in order to support the county government improve on its development services.
“Stop boycotting to pay taxes. Taxes you pay daily are used in projects such as market upgrades. It has been noticed that some traders have developed a habit of boycotting to pay taxes. Such traders make the county government’s projects not to be completed as stipulated,” argued Otundo.
He said that in most cases, county council officers collide in the market with traders who boycott paying taxes.
On the other hand, traders lamented over the poor services offered by the county government which has failed to deliver services to the common ‘mwananchi’.
“I pay taxes daily to the county council officers but the money collected has not been used to bring any changes in the market. This means that the government is using our money wrongly,” said Ann Nyarangi, a trader.
“We pay taxes but look at the state of our roads, poorly maintained. Markets are dirty with delayed garbage collection. The taxes we pay seems to be pocketed by some individuals”, said Joyce Njeri, another trader.
Some traders also said some of the officers collude with them and steal the money collected and when they get to the offices they say they are evading the paying of taxes which is not the case.