The Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture (PICSSAA) has put Bukura Agricultural College on the spot over failure to remit statutory deductions, terming the lapse as a serious breach of financial management and legal obligations.
The Committee, chaired by Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), questioned the College’s leadership over delays in remitting Pay As You Earn (PAYE), despite the deductions being mandatory by law.
The College’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Njogu, admitted that the institution delayed remitting Pay As You Earn (PAYE) for several months.
“The college did not remit certain deductions for the month of February, March, April and May 2025 at the time of the audit,” he admitted.
He attributed the delay to reduced government funding, stating that its recurrent grant had been cut, affecting cash flow and its ability to meet all obligations.
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“This was brought about by the reduction in college current grants from 168 million to 118 million at the beginning of the financial year 2024/2025,” Njogu said.
The Office of the Auditor-General had flagged the issue, noting that failure to remit statutory deductions not only violates the law, but also exposes the institution to additional costs.
“Non-payment of statutory deductions will attract penalties which is a further expense to the institution,” the Auditor told the Committee.
The institution further stated that it had since cleared the outstanding tax arrears and benefited from a tax amnesty offered by the Kenya Revenue Authority.
“All the outstanding areas due to KRA were paid in full and the college benefited from the tax amnesty as of June 2025,” Njogu said.
MP Caleb Amisi, however, dismissed the explanation, warning that statutory obligations must be prioritised regardless of financial constraints.
“The statutory deductions as the name suggests, they are by law, they cannot be remitted based on whether you receive grants or not,” he said
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He further emphasised the need for proper financial planning within public institutions.
“When you carry out a budgeting process, statutory deductions should be one of those key areas that you consider because they are statutory, they are a must, you can’t avoid them,” Hon. Amisi said
“It raises questions on your priorities as an organisation,” he added, expressing concern that delayed remittances had attracted penalties, thereby increasing the financial burden on the institution.
By Juma Ndigo
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