Local Revenue Mobilisation or a Neglected Taxation Systems: Assessing the Local Government Administration in Zambia

The study focused on revenue mobilisation in Zambia's local government structure, taking consideration of Kitwe City Council, in relation to a unitary state system. A mixed-methods design was employed, with a sample of 105 participants including council members, business owners, marketeers, and residents. The three main objectives of this study were (i) to identify and describe the local taxation system being applied in Kitwe District, (ii) to assess the local tax assessment and collection systems, and (iii) to analyse the impact of the unitary state system of Zambia on revenue mobilisation in Kitwe City Council. Mixed methods research design was used where both quantitative and qualitative methods were incorporated. The sample comprised 105 participants (council members, business owners, marketeers, and residents), determined by purposive sampling for qualitative depth and convenience sampling for the survey; no a priori power calculation was performed. Results indicated that while awareness about local taxation was relatively high (78.1%), views regarding effectiveness of the tax administration were equally divided, with a considerable number of people perceiving local taxation as ineffective owing to poor enforcement and feedback regarding service delivery. In addition, the study confirmed that Kitwe City Council used a mixed approach for tax assessment and collection, which included both manual system and partially digitized approach. Mobile money emerged as the most preferred mode of payment (44.8%), but problems such as poor receipt issuing (27.6%) still exist despite efforts to adopt digital modes of tax collection. Most importantly, the research concluded that unitary state of Zambia limited local taxation. A vast majority of survey participants (63.9%) agreed w