Rogue officers at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) are facing possible dismissals and prosecution in a fresh purge aimed at uprooting corrupt officials defrauding the exchequer hundreds of billions every year.
The move comes after President William Ruto issued an ultimatum to the KRA commissioner-general James Githii Mburu to urgently act on an intelligence report he shared with the Agency.
“I have given enough information to commisioner general to sort out that mess and I have told him if he doesn’t sort out the mess, I’ll sort it out myself. We are determined to effect decisive change in order to reverse this unsatisfactory state of affairs. The practice of citizen harassment as means of tax administration is unacceptable.” President Ruto said.
Dr Ruto who graced the taxman’s event of Friday pointed out rampant collusion between corrupt KRA officers and rogue businessmen that has resulted in massive revenue leakages and loss of Sh400 billion in taxes.
The purge is also targeting KRA officials in racket that is behind tax subversion and is also accused of harassing and extorting traders contributing to under-performance of the agency which only achieved target set by the Treasury in the last financial year.
A similar purge was ordered in 2015 by the previous administration but did less to enhance tax collection as it only centered on lifestyle audits of the taxmen.
The president was particular in corruption involved in the collection of excise duty, which applies to goods such as spirits, cigarettes and bottled water.
He said that the country can not be comfortable selling a measly 2.9 billion excisable stamps yearly compared with Tanzania’s seven billion and Uganda’s nine billion yet the two economies are smaller than Kenya’s.
“There are people who are selling the balance which is approximately seven billion stamps. I have told the Commissioner-General he must tell these people to stop and we have no choice because I do not want to fight with people, but they must stop,” Ruto added.
In the financial year ended June 2022 KRA netted Sh2.031 trillion against an original target of Sh1.882 trillion but the president warns that administration of taxes should not be like extortion.
“A huge obstacle to the realisation of our national revenue target is that in practice tax administration has traditionally been a repressive, menacing affair which resembles extortion.
“This extinguishes taxpayer incentive and diminishes the prospect of an expanded tax base pulling Kenyan backwards from its national revenue potential and denying its citizens critical services and development programmes.” Ruto said.
The tax agency has been under fierce criticism from top businessmen over its unpredictability and regimes that overtaxes a few people and firms in the formal sector with increased taxes while shielding businesses associated with powerful individuals.
