KCCA faulted for non-remittance of UGX 4.107Bn statutory deductions

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises-COSASE has faulted Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA for failing to remit the statutory deductions from staff amounting to 4.107 billion Shillings to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for the Financial Year 2021/2022.

The committee members confirmed the anomaly following their probe into the matter after the Auditor General’s report raised a red flag over the same during the year under review.

The Committee, which is currently probing KCCA’s operations collaborated with the Auditor General’s report that 2.599 billion Pay As You Earn – PAYE, 1.492 NSSF, and 17.211 million Withholding Tax for Uganda Revenue Authority – URA were not remitted accordingly.

The Committee Chairperson, Joel Ssenyonyi (Nakawa West MP), asserted that KCCA committed an illegality that deprived the affected workers of interest that should have accrued from their annual savings at the NSSF.

While appearing before the Committee earlier, the Lord Mayor of Kampala City, Erias Lukwago decried the failure of KCCA to remit staff savings. He recalled a walk of shame he made to NSSF to withdraw his midterm access funds, which he was denied on the grounds that he had not saved with the Funds for the last 24 months.

“I went to NSSF to take advantage of the law you people passed but I was told I hadn’t saved for 10 years yet I have been in KCCA since 2011. They told me I was short of savings by 24 months, only to cross-check there were several months that haven’t been remitted,” said Lukwago.

In response, Donny Katebire, the KCCA’s Acting Director of Treasury Services acknowledged the failure to remit the said funds to the respective agencies and attributed the anomaly to casual laborers under the Authority who failed to register for the same.

Ssenyonyi rejected the assertions as baseless and faulted the technical staff for gross negligence and incompetence. Hundreds of KCCA casual workers recently staged protests over the failure of KCCA to remit their savings to NSSF.

The KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka, said the authority lacks the required funds though they are already streamlining payments for all the casual workforce to enable timely remittance of their statutory deductions.