The Senate Standing Committee on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) has instructed Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya to appear before it next week to explain the alledged loss of public funds. 

This comes after it emerged that the county lost Ksh1.3 million through collection of revenue using an illegal paybill number 770478 while the Committee was conducting an inquiry into the status of IFMIS and other county revenue management system in the county. 

Members of the Senator Allan Chesang-led Committee classified the incident as an economic crime and called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to commence investigations. 

During the Committee meeting which the County Chief skipped, Senator Chesang (Trans Nzoia) questioned the county's revenue collection process, specifically inquiring about designated revenue collectors. 

"We would like your technical person to show us the list of revenue collectors. We have seen Trans Nzoia CECs collecting revenue," he stated.

In response, Deputy County Secretary Boniface Wanyonyi, who was representing Governor Natembeya, clarified that CECs were not directly involved in revenue collection but were overseeing operations as part of the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) aimed at boosting revenue. 

He explained that during this period, staff were prohibited from collecting revenue, and businesses were urged to comply with payment obligations.

The ICT Committee directed Trans Nzoia County Executive to provide relevant documentation within three days.

Senator Beatrice Ogolla expressed concerns about the county's readiness to integrate its revenue management system with IFMIS to prevent revenue leakage. 

Senator Cherarkey echoed these concerns, urging counties to collaborate with the Council of Governors and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to develop integrated revenue management systems. 

He highlighted Trans Nzoia County's poor performance in meeting revenue targets, noting that "the County is fairing badly in terms of hitting its revenue targets by only collecting 500 milkion against a revenue target potential of 1.3 billion projected by the Commission of Revenue Allocation."

The ICT Committee will complete its three-day visit to counties to assess their revenue collection and management systems tomorrow with a visit to Bungoma County.