A report tabled before Parliament has shown that Kenyan universities have failed to remit 19 billion shillings for statutory deductions.
The Kenyan Institutions of higher learning have not been remitting funds for critical statutory deductions such as Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE)National Hospital Insurance Funds (NHIF) National Social Security Funds (NSSF), pension as well as SACCOs
The universities accused of failing to remit statutory deductions include; The University of Nairobi(UoN) Kenyatta University(KU)Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology(JKUAT), Egerton University and Moi University.
The University of Nairobi is being accused of having the highest dues worth 5.5 billion shillings that have accumulated in recent months.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology takes the second spot with the highest pending bills worth 3.5 billion shillings, Kenyatta University owes 2.7 billion shillings while Egerton and Moi University owe statutory bodies 2 billion shillings and 1.3 billion shillings respectively.
Most of the universities in question have failed to remit funds in due time and this has in turn affected employees and especially those who have retired.
Reports show that most of the public universities depended highly on fees paid by students especially those who enrolled for parallel programs but problems began when only a handful of students were getting admitted to the universities.
In recent years, a lower number of students have applied for the parallel program in the public universities despite them offering courses at a lower rate compared to private universities.
If the Universities fail to clear their arrears in six years as required by law, they risk facing consequences especially from pension schemes and other authorities.
The assets of the universities which are mostly state-owned are currently at risk of being seized by agencies such as the Retirement Benefits Authority(RBA).RBA claims that the institutions have failed to remit funds estimated at 5 billion shillings to cater to retired staff.
Universities with unpaid dues could clear their arrears using assets like land and homes according to RBA.
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