Kenya lost over 200 Billion shillings ahead of last year’s elections due to illegal tax waivers, abandonments and exemptions to individuals and companies of powerful people connected to the State.
Consequently the Finance and National Planning committee of the National Assembly has given the Kenya Revenue Authority a seven-day ultimatum to supply it with the list of all individuals and companies that benefited from the waivers.
A meeting between members of the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning committee and senior officers from the Kenya Revenue Authority at a Naivasha hotel turned stormy upon revelations that the country lost billions of shillings in the run up to the August 2022 general election.
It is alleged that the Treasury, which was supposed to enhance revenue collection, would instead give waivers, exemptions and abandonments despite opposition from the KRA.
The committee Chairman Kimani Kuria blamed this for the country’s failure to achieve revenue targets.
He noted that the majority of the waivers, exemptions and abandonments were conducted between 2021 and 2022 with beneficiaries being some government ministries, a Chinese company, individuals and organizations that were run by powerful individuals in the country.
During the meeting, the committee took issue with a contract entered between KRA and a foreign company on the printing of excise duty stamps.
The committee gave KRA one week to furnish it with the list and documentation of all those who benefitted from the waivers.
