Nairobi News

The Kenya Revenue Authority has issued a statement following viral revelations of a bride and her husband being harassed and forced to part with thousands of shillings at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) when they arrived with a wedding dress from abroad for their destination wedding.

In their statement, KRA defended itself for taxing the bride because her dress cost $2,000 (Sh 301,820), a price way above the $500 threshold KRA placed on international travelers being allowed to travel with goods without being taxed duty.

“Our attention has been drawn to various social media posts regarding an incident involving a Kenyan Lady and a foreigner. We empathize with the frustration and inconveniences such situations may cause and reiterate that we do not condone any form of abuse or harassment by our officers. In this specific incident, we wish to clarify the following:

We acknowledge the incident took place in September 2023. The wedding dress in question was valued at $2000, which exceeded the allowable limit of $500 for duty-free items. According to the relevant customs laws, it was indeed subject to duty. We are pleased to inform you that the couple, upon understanding the tax requirements, paid the necessary taxes and complied with the regulations. We are grateful for their cooperation,” said KRA in part.

KRA stated that their duty-free caps were in line with the East African Community Customs Management and other relevant tax laws.

“We aim to uphold these regulations fairly and consistently for the benefit of our country and its citizens. If you ever feel that you have been subjected to harassment or mistreatment by any of our officials, we encourage you to report the incident,” added KRA.

Their statement came after a lady by the name Jackie Arkle shared a testimony of what happened at JKIA when her clients arrived in Kenya for their destination wedding.

“We say we are trying to promote Kenya as a wedding destination. This is a total farce. Our clients arrived last night from the United States, they are US citizens here for their destination wedding. As they were exiting the arrivals, the bride was told to open her suitcase which she duly did. This was the beginning of her nightmare. They were rudely told her wedding dress was of commercial value and they must pay duty on it. They showed their passports and tickets that they were here for their wedding and would be flying back.

The customs harrassed and intimidated them that the wedding dress was of commercial value locally and must pay $2000. They didn’t have the money and were forced to leave it behind. The couple has not slept and are highly traumatized by the terrible experience in the hands of our Customs,” said Ms Arkle.

KRA has lately been facing ire from Kenyans as their employees harass travelers at the airport. Most Kenyans said they were forced to leave their expensive items at the airport, some claiming that Customs officials only meant to seize them for themselves while others asked for bribes to let some items pass.

The country is currently in a war of words with KRA for their taxation avenues, saying this is a means to pinch more money out of Kenyans’ pockets while they are already struggling with the new government-implemented taxes that continue to make the cost of living soar.

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