Gulu District Reports Poor Local Revenue Collection for 2020/2021
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Gulu District Local Government has reported poor local revenue collection as the 2020/2021 financial year nears its end.
Simon Peter Ocen, the Gulu District Senior Finance Officer, told URN in an interview that they have only collected Shillings 560 million out of the projected Shillings 1.7 billion in local revenue.
He explains that only seven out of their ten local revenue sources performed to expectation. According to Ocen, they didn’t collect sufficient funds from are fines and penalties, rents and property-related income.
Ocen attributes the low local revenue collection to the COVID -19 pandemic, which he says businesses, limited their staff from collecting revenue at different points in Sub –Counties and lack of frequent supervision among others.
He reveals that the poor revenue collection has greatly affected service delivery in the district planned council and departmental meetings.
Martine Omony Otim, the Senior Accountant Gulu District, says that with the few months left to the end of the financial year, they are holding regular revenue meetings involving stakeholders with the aim of addressing the challenges they are facing in revenue collection.
He says that they have tasked the finance committee to visit the different revenue collection points to identify loopholes and come up with mitigation measures.
