Maracha District is to start charging 10,000 for each loan application by employees.
This was revealed by Stephen Obitre, the Secretary of Finance, Planning, and Administration and LCV Chairperson during an ordinary council sitting held at the district council hall on Thursday.
According to Obitre, the move is aimed at enhancing the local revenue Mobilization efforts for the district to improve service delivery. Obitre highlighted that on average between twenty to forty loan applications are endorsed per week by the district which is expected to generate 300,000 Shillings in revenue per week.
The councilors unanimously endorsed the proposal, noting that the new development will go a long way in reducing the over-reliance on central government transfers which often delay hence effective service delivery for the local people.
During the 2022/2023 financial year, Maracha district projected to collect 256 Million Shillings as local revenue but managed to collect 220 Million Shillings.
Emmanuel Wani, the District Speaker welcomed the initiative but challenged the District Executive Committee-DEC to Consider introducing more initiatives to enhance local revenue in the district.
Under the new initiative, staff loan applications cleared by the district Human resource office shall be directed to the finance department, and the employee is accordingly registered on the Integrated Revenue Administration System (IRAS) to effect the payment of the fees using mobile money into the Bank of Uganda Revenue account.
Upon payment, the staff is expected to present the generated receipt before the loan application is endorsed.
Sections 30 and 31 of the Local Governments Act, Cap. 243 empowers local councils to provide mandatory services to their residents under the decentralization policy.
Maracha District was curved out of Arua district in the 2009/10 financial year but started effective operations in the 2010/11 financial year.
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