Economy
KRA begins search for new commissioner general after Mburu exit
Wednesday April 12 2023
Times Tower in Nairobi, the headquarters of Kenya Revenue Authority. FILE PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has begun the search for a new substantive Commissioner-General following the exit of Githii Mburu in February.
The authority has called for applications to the position until April 25 in an advertisement published in local dailies.
KRA is currently under pressure to meet revenue collection targets for the 2022/23 financial year amid a cash squeeze that has seen the State delay salaries and suspend some development programmes.
In nine months to March 2023, the taxman collected Sh1.544 trillion which represents an eight percent growth, failing to hit the target by Sh67 billion for the period.
Disclosures by the National Treasury to Parliament nevertheless show KRA was Sh67 billion off the target over the nine-month period.
“Year to date, KRA has kept pace with revenue collection compared to prior year collections. As at the close of March 2023, revenue collection averaged 95.1 percent on original target and 93.4 percent on supplementary target,” KRA said in a statement on Monday.
KRA is expected to collect at least Sh2.108 trillion before the end of June to meet its targets for the fiscal year.
Successful candidates for the post will be required to have a Master’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics or Law and have at least 15 years of experience with 10 at the senior leadership level in large public or private entities.
An unfriendly new government and a board headed by an assertive chairman forced Mr Mburu to cut short his fresh five-year term amid a fresh shake-up of the Kenya Revenue Authority’s C-suite.
He opted to resign less than eight months into his new term in changes that have seen the KRA board replace three of seven managers on the agency’s top executive team.
President William Ruto has never concealed his displeasure with KRA’s previous aggressive clampdown on the rich in an effort to recover unpaid taxes and raise national revenues.
His departure was announced on the same day as the replacement of other top executives at the agency including Lilian Nyawanda (Commissioner, Customs and Border Control), Terra Saidimu (Commissioner, Intelligence & Strategic Operations) and David Kinuu (Commissioner, Corporate Support Services).
The Commissioner of Domestic Taxes Rispah Simiyu replaced Mburu in an acting capacity while David Mwangi, David Yego and Nancy Ngetich took up the roles of the other ousted executives also on an acting basis.
