A governor has explained how his county has increased daily revenue collection from Ksh6,000 to more than Ksh1.37 million per day. Kilifi Governor Gideon Maitha Mung’aro explained challenges and gaps in the county’s digital transformation journey during a County Oversight and Networking Engagement (CONE) forum by the Senate Standing Committee on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), at Mnarani Club on May 24, 2025.
The meeting focused on the progress and challenges surrounding the county’s Revenue Management System (RMS) and Health Information System (HMIS), both introduced to boost transparency, service delivery, and revenue collection.
Governor Mung’aro stated that revenue collection has significantly improved since automation.
He said the daily revenue was between Ksh6,000 and Ksh10,000, but this has since jumped to Ksh500 million annually from the health sector.
“Before, we were collecting only Ksh6,000 to Ksh10,000 a day. Now we’ve reached over Ksh500 million annually from hospital collections alone,” Mung’aro said.
The Committee Chairperson nominated Senator Shakila Abdalla asked the Governor and his team to explain measures put in place to ensure revenue collection continues when the system experiences downtime.
She also asked about Kilifi’s efforts to integrate with the national IFMIS platform, used for financial reporting and expenditure tracking.
Challenges Facing Implementation
Governor Gideon Maitha Mung’aro acknowledged the concerns, stating that while connectivity issues persist in some wards, mitigation measures such as daily backups, manual claim processing, and offline record options help ensure business continuity.
“We still face challenges in areas like Chakama and Maria, but we’re working with the Communication Authority and American Towers to expand coverage,” he said.
On IFMIS, Kilifi officials said they’re ready but are still waiting for the green light.
“We’ve asked for integration of the revenue module, but the platform hasn’t onboarded us yet,” an ICT officer shared.
“Once IFMIS is ready, we are more than willing to transition full,” the Governor added.
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Transparency & Agreement with Vendor
On transparency, the team was asked to outline the key terms in the County’s agreement with the vendor.
The officials responded that the vendor is tasked with building the system, training staff, hosting it for one year, and eventually handing over full system ownership, including source code and database, to the county government.
Some members of the Committee commended Kilifi’s progress but pushed for timelines.
Mung’aro said Kilifi County has already digitized 16 dispensaries with support from USAID.
“Our target is all 150 dispensaries, depending on resource availability,” he said.
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Kilifi County Potential
He emphasized the county’s potential, stating that the County can project a minimum of Ksh4 billion in Own Source Revenue per year if every department runs efficiently with digital systems in place.
He also highlighted security measures taken to protect patient and financial data.
“Each staff member has access only to what they need. Nurses cannot edit lab records. We are working on adding double authentication and geo-fencing, so the system is only accessed within the facility,” he explained.
Growth in Own Revenue
Kilifi’s own source revenue has grown steadily from Ksh355 million in 2013/14 to Ksh1.21 billion in 2023/24, driven by automation of land rates, parking, business permits, and hospital systems.
Plans are also underway to introduce telemedicine in partnership with international donors, ensuring remote follow-ups for patients.
The officials said the key priorities are full EMR rollout, complete RMS adoption across all revenue streams, and deeper integration with national platforms.
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