KAKAMEGA municipal council has refuted claims that it owes the National Social Security Fund Sh58 million. Town mayor Matias Sichere said yesterday that the claim by NSSF was a political gimmick to deny the council cash for projects. "The claim by NSSF is a politically-motivated gimmick to lock the civic body out of this financial year's LATF (Local Authorities Transfer Fund) disbursement. We owe the fund nothing at the moment because we even borrowed money from a bank to clear about Sh6 million we owed them," said Sichere.

He said that the council was not in existence between 1960 and 1968 when the Local Government PS claims the council accrued the said amount of money. The council was created in 1972. Kakamega, Kericho, Webuye, Kisii and Busia municipalities and Kisumu city had their LATF allocations withheld by the Ministry of Local Government over accrued statutory deductions. The disbursements were made last week.

Yesterday, Sichere said he read PNU/ODM battles in the denial of cash to the councils from Western Kenya. He said that several correspondences between Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and PS Prof Kerega Mutahi had failed to unlock the funds as the later insists that the matter could only be resolved by a court of law.