Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC)chairman Mutava Musyimi. PHOTO | FILE
Parliament has ordered the Treasury to table a plan for the repayment of Sh4 billion loan the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) borrowed from Co-operative Bank to put up a shopping mall.
The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) directed Treasury secretary Henry Rotich to appear before it on Tuesday to explain how the loan, which is attracting Sh30 million monthly interest, will be cleared through the Supplementary Budget.
BAC chairman Mutava Musyimi issued the directive after the Finance, Planning and Trade committee vice chairperson Nelson Gachuhie raised the issue of the loan while presenting a report on the consideration of the Supplementary Budget.
“The committee is concerned that there is a huge pending bill to tune of Sh4 billion concerning the Lake Basin mall in Kisumu. The loan is accumulating Sh30 million per month yet no money has been factored in this Supplementary Budget to clear it,” Mr Gachuhie said.
Mr Rotich and principal secretary Kamau Thugge said the Treasury needed one week to go through the committe’s report , a special audit on the mall conducted by Auditor- General Edward Ouko and a legal opinion rendered by Attorney- General Githu Muigai.
“We need a week to go through this report that the committee has made available to me right here. We also need to look at ways to finance the repayment of this loan before I can make any commitment,” Mr Rotich told BAC.
He said the Ministry of Devolution and Planning , which generated a report on the review of the mall, should own the document and send the same to the Treasury for action.
Mr Gachuhie said the committee had written to Mr Ouko and Prof Muigai seeking their views on the loan’s repayment.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
