Mathira Member of Parliament Rigathi Gachagua has revealed that he does not bank some of the income he accrues from his personal projects.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Thursday morning, Gachagua noted that he stopped banking his cash due to numerous explaining he had to do, anytime he wanted to withdraw huge sums of money.
According to him, Kenyan banks require a lot of explanations whenever someone is depositing or withdrawing huge amounts of money, adding that some people are not comfortable revealing details of their personal dealings.
“For you to deposit one million shillings, you have to explain. People, especially we Africans are not very comfortable discussing the number of cows and sheep we have, is against our tradition and so is money… You bring money to the bank, you want to get your money and use it, and is your money; you have too much explaining to the clerk, to the manager and is you money. I myself, some money I make in my farm, I don’t bank it, why? …I have to explain where I got the money from, yet when I was ploughing the land I was not answering to anybody,” he said.
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Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua. [Photo: Courtesy]
Explaining how he keeps the money since he does not bank it, Gachagua noted that he has employees and other expenses that are paid in cash.
For instance, he noted that purchasing building material for example sand does not require a bank transaction. He also noted that construction workers prefer being paid in cash since most of them do not have bank accounts.
Gachagua made the remarks while reacting to an economic stimulus plan announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the Mashujaa Day celebration in Kirinyaga County.
In the plan, under the banking sector, President Kenyatta directed the National Treasury to consult with banks and review upwardly cash transactions reporting threshold from the current mark of Ksh. 1 Million applicable to both withdrawals and deposits by customers.
