KRA slaps NG-CDF with bill for sitting allowances

National Government Constituency Development Fund Board (NG-CDF) Chairperson Olago Aluoch. [Robert Menza, Standard]

Kenya Revenue Authority has raided the National Government Constituency Development Fund constituency committee members for taxes.

The NG-CDF national board yesterday confirmed that committees across the country have been slapped with demand letters to pay the taxes for sitting allowances of members backdated to 2003.

New board chairman Olago Aluoch said his team will engage KRA to resolve the matter even as the constituency committees said the new demand would be costly to ongoing projects.

Speaking when he toured projects in Mvita constituency, Mr Aluoch said KRA was demanding principal tax, penalty, and interest amounting to millions of shillings that if paid, will adversely budget for projects in all constituencies.

"KRA has demanded taxes from the sitting allowances of NG-CDF committee members backdated to 2003. This is going to affect ongoing projects. The board will consult with KRA to see how this matter can be resolved. In the face of it, this is unfair," he noted.

He was flanked by NG-CDF chief executive officer Yusuf Mbuno, Mvita MP Mohamed Machelle, board members, and NG-CDF senior officers, including constituency fund account managers from Coast.

Mr Machelle said KRA has demanded Sh5 million from his constituency committee.

"KRA has sent us a demand letter to pay taxes for the sitting allowances of NG-CDF committee members since the time of Najib Balala and Abdulswamad Nassir as MPs for Mvita. The NG-CDF should intervene because this will reduce our allocations and affect the ongoing projects," Machelle pleaded.

The constituency committee members are paid Sh5,000 per sitting allowance per person.

Meanwhile, Mr Aluoch said the delay in disbursement of NG-CDF funds will be a thing of the past following the recent engagement between the national treasury Cabinet Secretary on one side and the national assembly select committee and NG-CDF board on the other.

Aluoch said the national Treasury has already cleared the Sh53 billion due to the constituencies and it does not owe them any funds for the 2022/2023 financial year.

"There is no more delay of the funds because there is good communication between the board and national assembly select committee and the national treasury. There is goodwill with the national treasury CS," he said.

He, however, said the NG-CDF funds allocation which stands at 2.5 percent of the ordinary government revenues can only be increased if the national economy expands.