By Martin Masai

Governor Wavinya Ndeti has reshuffled her Revenue Chief Officer, Zipporah Mutunga. Mutunga, a renowned photographer, took on the critical post on May 21, 2024, succeeding veteran Revenue Chief Mike Jace Senga. No reason was given for her removal, which is a common occurrence in the second Machakos County government. She is succeeded by the Director of Revenue Collection, Mr. Otieno Otieno, who has been appointed to serve as Chief Officer in an acting capacity.

Otieno’s appointment raises legal concerns as he has not been vetted and approved by the Machakos County Assembly, as required by the law governing the appointment of Chief Officers.

Sources informed The Anchor that the communication regarding the transfer was made on Friday. This move is speculated to be Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s response to the county’s reported underperformance in the collection of Own Source Revenue (OSR).

However, there may be other reasons for Mutunga’s removal.

Sources close to the situation suggest that Governor Wavinya had issues with Zipporah, even during her controversial trip to the UK. On Thursday, Mutunga was reportedly summoned to the Governor’s Kinanie home, where official meetings are held. An altercation allegedly occurred, with Zipporah standing her ground. It was eventually decided that she would return to her position at the Ministry of Water. The exact gist of the tiff remains unknown.

The Office of the Controller of Budget this week reported Machakos County as having collected only 47 per cent of expected revenue in the last financial year.
Observers see inefficiency, outright theft, administrative dithering, infighting, and conflict of interest as the reason for the drop in revenue collection.
This marks the second consecutive year that the county has failed to meet its annual KES 4 billion OSR target. This failure comes despite the county hiring over 400 revenue clerks early last year. The revenue department is plagued by erratic transfers of revenue officers, deployment of unqualified staff, and political patronage. Some of the recently deployed staff are beyond retirement age.
The most glaring administrative action is the decision to remove the county’s 9 Senior Revenue Officers from their positions and handing the role to Subcounty Administrators. The administrators were hired recently from Wavinya’s campaign army and lack the expertise to superintend over revenue collection.
The Senior Revenue Officers have been on prolonged leave since March 2024, now totaling nine months, all while continuing to receive full salaries. They have not received suspension letters, nor were they given any reason for their removal.
The County Finance Minister has remained non-committal over their fate after he denied ever removing them from office.