Nairobi governor Kananu faces arrest in tax row
By Collins OmuloThe Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has sought the arrest and prosecution of acting Nairobi Governor Ann Kananu and several top City Hall officials for failing to pay taxes amounting to Sh2 billion.
This follows a go-ahead by the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), setting the stage for the arrest of Kananu and the other top officials.
The officers are being accused of having failed to remit the taxes even after signing numerous agreements with the taxman to settle the same.
Reliable sources at KRA intimated to Nairobi News that the officers could face up to 10 counts of criminal charges.
The other top county government officials on KRA’s radar include the Finance CEC Allan Igambi, Finance Chief Officer Halkano Waqo, and four other employees who have been obstructing the processing of remittance of taxes.
“Perusal of the file seeking the immediate arrest and committal to a court process against the acting Governor and several senior officers at the Nairobi County Government has been finalized by the ODPP,” said the source.
“It is now all systems-go and it is only a matter of hours before Kananu and her team are nabbed by DCI detectives in a sting operation,” added the source.
From KRA records, the huge arrears built from the taxes deducted from the employees and suppliers to the County but were not remitted to the government as required by Law.
These include Pay As You Earn, Withholding VAT, and Withholding Tax, among others.
The suppliers and staff have borne the brunt of the non-remittance of these unpaid taxes since their tax records indicate that they are non-compliant hence cannot access their tax compliance certificates for pensions, jobs elsewhere, or consultancy work.
Further to this, the Authority is processing multiple complaints from employees and suppliers against their employers and procuring entities who withhold taxes and fail to remit to KRA.
Some of the suppliers and former employees have reportedly moved to court to compel the county to remit these withheld taxes.
KRA’s focus on the high net-worth individuals and companies seems to have yielded great results and the taxman intends to deploy the generously availed powers to leave no stone unturned in its effort to mobilize revenue to finance government activities.