Corruption at KRA costing country billions Henry Rotich

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich today (Wednesday) admitted that a lot of the country’s revenue is being lost to leakages during revenue collection by the Kenya Revenue Authority and thus costing the country billions.

The CS however said this is being addressed through ongoing reforms at KRA after it failed to meet its revenue targets by more than Sh67.7 billion in the first six months of the current financial year.

The Treasury CS said the government is re-organising the revenue collector’s administration to rid it of corrupt officials among other measures meant to raise revenue collection, as it is currently struggling.

Rotich has further refuted allegations by the opposition that the government is weakening the office of the auditor general, saying the auditor general has been given powers to appoint staff members to enhance his work.

According to the Treasury’s draft budget policy statement released early this month, the revenue shortfall was caused by underperformance in the collection of pay-as-you-earn tax, value added tax on imports as well as the delayed enactment of the Excise Duty Act.

Collection of fees and charges at source by other government agencies was also off target by Sh20 billion by the end of December 2015.

At the same time, the government’s domestic borrowing fell short by Sh80.3 billion, with the government borrowing standing at Sh26 billion against a target of Sh106.6 billion.

In total, the government closed last year with a funding shortfall of Sh164.7 billion.