Kenyatta family linked NCBA bank is now ready to pay the tax waiver which the bank received during the merger between NIC Group PLC and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) back in 2019. This is according to the NCBA Managing Director John Gachora.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Gachora admitted to NCBA having benefitted from the waiver, but he said that the right procedure was followed and that should the courts find any wrongdoing, they will not hesitate to pay up the said fees.

“I want to assure the public and every Kenyan that should the court find that NCBA was not entitled to that waiver, the day the court makes that determination, I can promise that the following day we will send a cheque of Ksh. 350 million to the exchequer,”  Gachora told KTN News on Thursday night.

The bank has been a subject of public debate as former president Uhuru Kenyatta came under fire as his detractors accuse him of evading taxes during his stint as president.

Mr Gachora further said that the bank has always met its tax obligations with the said waiver of 350 million being just a fraction of the billions the firm has been remitting yearly as taxes. The Managing Director disclosed that the bank remitted 6.7 billion and 14.3 billion in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

NIC and CBA merged to form NCBA Bank Kenya Plc during the reign of former Treasury CS Henry Rotich. It was Mr Rotich who exempted them from paying the share transfer tax. The merger saw NIC group shareholders get 47 per cent of the merged entity and CBA shareholders who included former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family, had 53 per cent of the merged entity.