County revenue grows by Sh163m

By emmanuel kisya

Revenue collection in Tharaka Nithi has risen from Sh79 million in financial year 2016/2017 to Sh242 million in financial year 2017/2018. Governor Muthomi Njuki (pictured) attributed the growth to digitization of crucial revenue streams. He said the collection had grown by more than 80 per cent in the past two financial years.

Making his state of the county address at the local County Assembly, Njuki said as a result of the revenue growth, the Gross County Product (GCP) Report of 2019 had placed Tharaka Nithi as one of the fastest growing counties in the country.

In the current financial year, the governor said the government has set aside Sh20 million for empowerment of coffee farmers and a similar amount for those engaging in tea farming. The county chief challenged MCAs to assist him improve community health services saying he bought two ambulances to help realise the Universal Health Coverage. Njuki termed recruitment of 1,000 community health volunteers to monitor the health status and create awareness as one of the milestones in realization of a healthy County.

Firms predict shift in digital trends

BY MITCHELL ISICHI

Speakers at the forum noted that although a lot of developments have been realized in the landscape this year, 2019 provides a different ball game altogether. Safaricom Chief Customer Care Officer Sylvia Mulinge said due to the increasing demand by consumers for convenience and simplicity when interacting with apps, developers will be more likely to introduce “super” apps that aggregate several applications into one that is more user-friendly. “There is a high probability that for every application that one installs on phone he or she is likely to delete another one because of issues to do with phone memory so the apps that will tick in the market are those that can deliver more than one service and is easy to interact with,” she said.

Ms Mulinge further noted that artificial intelligence will revolutionalise customer service in 2019, with many service providers using chatbots which act as virtual assistants within mobile applications.