Siaya on the spot over Sh400m delayed statutory deductions

The Siaya County Government is on the spot over failure to remit statutory deductions for 10 months.

The delays has affected county government employees who are  now facing possible default penalties.

The burden of offsetting the penalties slapped by statutory bodies against the county government  such as NSSF and other agencies will likely be passed to taxpayers who are already suffering under a depressed economy made worse by Covid-19 pandemic.

As MCAs resume house business on Wednesday after a 10-day recess,  the assembly has summoned Governor Cornel Rasanga's top finance administrators led by the county's finance executive to appear before the general oversight committee to shed light on pending bills and statutory deductions issues.

The Star on Tuesday confirmed that representatives of government agencies such as KRA , NSSF, NHIF, HELB  and pension plans such  as LAP fund and Lap Trust are among those expected to appear before the assembly on Wednesday.

Also summoned is the controller of budget.

The assembly wants these agencies to  state the exact amount owed to them by the devolved unit.

It is emerging  that Sh300 million deducted for the  lapfund, Sh90 million for KRA  statutory deductions, Sh77 million bursary, Sh90 million for recruitment of health workers and over 100 million for project management committees can't be traced at the county treasury.

According to the county director of communication Auscar Wambiya, DCI detectives have already moved in and are perusing documents obtained from the county treasury to establish what could have been lost.

According to documents seen by the Star,  NSSF alone is owed over Sh20 million which has not been remitted by the county government as at the end of July this year. 

The details of the debt owed to social security fund by the county government is contained in a response letter to the Assembly dated August 11 signed by the NSSF  branch manager in charge of Siaya.

The debt includes Sh5.7 million being  contribution arrears, Sh12 million which is accrued penalty and an outstanding penalty amounting to Sh2.71 million.

Star has further established that the issue of pending bills, roll-overs  and salary by-products has been at the centre of the standoff between the county executive and the assembly since June.

Although the assembly hurriedly passed the 2020-21 budget, the House has been reluctant to approve the appropriation bill which is critical to enable the Executive to expend money allocated to various departments in the budget.

The  Assembly unanimously approved the county's Sh8.1 billion programme based budget estimates for the Financial Year 2021/2022 two months ago.

The impasse that threatens to paralyse operations at the county government has seen two camps emerge in the Assembly with MCAs accusing each other of being compromised by the Executive to pass the bill.

On Monday,  a list with names of 19 MCAs was circulated on various social media platforms alleging that the MCAs were bribed after a two-day retreat in Mombasa to endorse the bill.

The deputy speaker Oduor Odongo who was among those listed  dismissed the bribery  claims.

The West Ugenya MCA also distanced himself and those mentioned from the alleged trip.

"We have not been bribed by anyone as alleged. We were not in Mombasa. To do what? I have not left my home for sometime since the House went on recess," he said.

East Yimbo MCA Francis Otiato who is a  member of an ad hoc committee assembled by the speaker to unlock the budget stalemate claimed that some MCAs had led a delegation to meet Rasanga at his home in Segere.

"Why would they meet the governor when our committee was still deliberating on the issue and was expected to deliver it's report to the House?"  Otiato asked.

Reached for comment on Tuesday, the governor confirmed meeting with MCAs. He however did not mention anything about the bribery claims.

"I had called all the MCAs to my home for general discussions including the pending appropriation bill," he said in text message.

Rasanga further revealed that he  held discussions with those who came very amicably.

"We are all in agreement that the appropriation bill be passed because this budget has nothing to do with our past transactions," he said in his text message response.

The county is yet to release funds for bursaries. The health sector has been hit hard with no money to buy drugs as the stalemate over the appropriation bill persists.

Edited by SKanyara