The Kenya Revenue Authorities (KRA) puzzle of missing Sh432 billion worth of imports from China has led to an internal staff shake-up that is said to target at least two commissioners.
KRA chairperson Anthony Ng’ang’a Mwaura said several senior officers at the border points, as well as ports, have been redeployed in an ongoing shake-up.
Those targeted in the shakeup include deputy commissioners as well as at least two commissioners.
“KRA is a no-go zone now and several transfers have taken place at our border points and ports. There is also a shakeup of deputy commissioners and one or two commissioners,” said Mr Mwaura.
It has also emerged that the data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), which is the equivalent of the Kenya Revenue Authority, has also negated an earlier explanation that some of the import gaps might have been destined to other countries in the region through transhipment.
A fresh analysis of the data showed separate tabulations for exports to neighbouring countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Official data from the KRA for the first 10 months of last year, as published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), placed the value of imports from China at Sh377.5 billion.
However, GACC says on its website that the goods exported from China to Kenya during this period were valued at Sh809.4 billion — more than twice the figure given by the KRA.
A breakdown of the data going as far back as 2018 shows that the disparity has been growing gradually in the period from Sh155.7 billion in 2018 to Sh431.7 billion last year.
Sources, who could not be quoted as they are not allowed to talk to the press, said statisticians at the Times Tower, Nairobi, where the offices of KRA are located, were crunching the numbers to find the explanation.
“After adding all the numbers, they have not been able to get over Sh450 billion. So the gap is still huge,” said one of the sources.
This comes at a time the KRA is carrying out an internal audit to seal the loopholes that some Kenyans have been using to evade paying taxes.
