By Antynet Ford
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has recovered Sh549 million as illicit wealth after a lifestyle audit on its employees and twenty five employees sacked between July and September this year due to corruption.
This is a huge rise compared to seven employees who were sacked over the same period in 2023 over the same allegations.
The dismissed employees were implicated in fraudulent activities including assisting the illegal clearance of cargo and tampering with tax returns to help taxpayers evade their obligations.
The revenue authority reported to have handled 87 disciplinary cases two times more of the cases reported last year.
“In the financial year 2023-24, 41 lifestyle audits were conducted leading to the recovery of Sh549 million. Other key anti-corruption measures include profiling of tax evaders and the adoption of a whole-of-government approach, which promotes collaboration across public institutions to enhance compliance and curb evasion.”
This comes as KRA Commissioner-General Humphrey Wattanga says the authority is committed to eradicating graft.
“We are committed to transforming KRA into a world-class institution with the highest standards of integrity and accountability.” Wattanga said.
To further reinforce its anti-corruption initiatives, KRA established Corruption Prevention Committees (CPCs) tasked with preventing malpractices in operations.
According to the commissioner general, these committees meet quarterly to review the implementation of the Public Service Integrity Programme (PSIP) and address emerging risks.
“The CPCs take appropriate administrative actions against any reported malpractices, reporting on emerging risks, and meet quarterly to evaluate the implementation of PSIP activities.” He said.
The revenue collector also revealed it has embraced technology to address revenue leakages.
One of its key innovations is iWhistle, a web-based platform enabling the public to anonymously report corruption and tax evasion.
To encourage whistleblowing, KRA said it introduced a reward system offering informers five per cent of the recovered tax, capped at Sh5 million per case.
