Listed public institutions such as State Broadcaster KBC now risk auction should the Kenyan government fail to meet its ballooning debt obligation.
The country’s current public debt has surpassed the mark set by the Public Finance Management Act which allows the government to borrow only up to 50 percent to the GDP ratio.
Already, the government has listed three non-performing loans including Ksh.7.9 billion by the State Broadcaster KBC, Tana & Athi Rivers Development Authority’s Ksh.1.2 billion loan as well as the East African Portland Cement that has a loan of Ksh.1.5 billion.
These institutions now stand at a risk of facing auction should the government fail to pay back the various debts.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is investigating allegations of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds at the troubled Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
Investigators are seeking to unravel how the decades-old State broadcaster sank into such a deep financial mess that it was declared technically insolvent by the Auditor-General in 2016.
“This office is investigating a reported case of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation,” reads a letter dated July 20 by Mr. Samuel Ngeywa, an officer from the DCI.
Mr. Ngeywa is seeking to know why the corporation cannot remit employees’ statutory deductions to the Kenya Revenue Authority, the national pension fund, co-operative unions, healthcare and insurance.
In addition, the officer asked to be furnished with documents relating to remittance of statutory deductions to banks, remittance of PAYE as well as deductions to insurance companies and the pension scheme.
Furthermore, the investigator requested the payroll and employees’ payslips over the past two years as from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018 for examination.