Nchelenge Town Council has received K400,000 from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) towards the implementation of a revenue enhancement plan aimed at improving revenue collection and reducing revenue leakages. ‎ Council Secretary, Benson Malama says community members…

Nchelenge Town Council has received K400,000 from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) towards the implementation of a revenue enhancement plan aimed at improving revenue collection and reducing revenue leakages.

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Council Secretary, Benson Malama says community members have already been sensitised on the initiative, while data collectors have also been trained.
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‎ Mr Malama says data collection has since been completed, with the remaining process being consolidation of the data before it is submitted to Chipata City Council for review.
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‎He says the initiative is expected to improve revenue collection and accountability once implemented.
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‎“Once this plan is implemented, we expect to reduce revenue leakages and maximise revenue collection because payments will be deposited directly into the council’s account,” Mr Malama said.
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‎He notes that the system will also help reduce manpower costs while making it convenient for residents to pay for council services.
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‎“People will be able to pay for services from the comfort of their homes, and monitoring will be much easier because all businesses will be captured in the database,” Mr Malama said.
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‎Nchelenge Town Council is among five local authorities in Luapula Province that have received support from UNICEF for the revenue enhancement initiative.