President William Ruto has called out the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for low tax revenue collection terming their performance as “lackluster”.
Speaking at Times Tower when he filed his tax returns on Friday morning, Ruto stated that corruption, abetting tax evasion and unwillingness to upgrade processing systems were some ills plaguing the taxman’s efficiency in tax collection.
“At a time when the state of our national finances leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the context of the radical measures that must be undertaken urgently to transform the economy, KRA has remained stuck in a culture that makes it difficult to achieve its full contribution. The authority continues to maximise collection from existing taxpayers through processes and technologies that belong to a bygone era, including disruptive stoppages of revenue-generating operations, summary actions, time-consuming, laborious and inefficient assessment methods and a flagrant penchant for intimidation through arbitrary prosecution,” he said.
He scolded the culture of corruption within the organisation, urging for a cultural shift to facilitate efficient revenue mobilisation.
“It is expected that high cost will be cited as the excuse for low technology adoption in revenue administration. But we all know what is going on and why…KRA must stop the tiresome drama of pretending to be fighting with stakeholders over new technology and avoid irritating Kenyans with proposals to spend billions of shillings on irrelevant projects. Kenyans expect no less, deserve no less and are entitled to no less,” he said.
On taxpayers’ concerns about the misuse of their money, Ruto reiterated his commitment to restoring public confidence in the government.
“The government in general must do much more to build public confidence that it can and will manage public resources honestly, efficiently, transparently and accountably. The Constitution mandates it, the law requires it and basic decency demands it…I want to make the following commitment firmly and clearly: My office shall be responsible for ensuring effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and accountability in the use of public funds,” he said.
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