Okiya Omtata petitions against NLC, CBA merger

Activist Okiya Omtata has filed a case over the merger of National Licencing Compliance (NLC) Group, Public Limited Companies (PLC) and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) in a tax waiver.

According to him, the impugned tax waiver, granted on 26th July 2019, was only announced to the public on Sunday 18th August 2019, is irregular, unlawful and unconstitutional and therefore, invalid, null and void.

Mr Omtata wants the court to stop the merger arguing that taxpayers will suffer great loss estimated at about 350 million shillings in lost tax revenues that would otherwise accrue to public coffers.

He further argued that the Cabinet Secretary(CS) for Treasury does not have the powers to arbitrarily grant the tax waiver and therefore the court must intervene immediately to stop the operations.

“First Respondent’s ultra vires decision to exempt the instruments executed in respect of the transactions relating to the merger of NLC Group PLC and Commercial Bank of Africa from tax should not be allowed to stand,” reads court papers.

Among the order that he wants the court to grant is pending the inter-parties hearing and determination of the application an interim order be issued suspending the implementation of Legal Notice No. 112 of 26th June, 2019.

He also wants the court to temporarily order injunction prohibiting the respondents and their agents and any persons howsoever acting from giving effect to Legal Notice No. 112 of 26th June 2019.

“The tax waiver is irregular, unlawful and unconstitutional to the extent that, among others, it offends the principles of public finance in Article 201(a) of the Constitution which decrees that “there shall be openness and accountability, including public participation in financial matters,” claimed Okiya Omtata.