The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) dismissed 19 staff members in the second quarter of the financial year 2024/2025 (October-December), compared to nine (9) dismissals during the same period in the 2023/2024 financial year.

During this period, the number of staff cleared of charges or allegations dropped significantly to eight cases, compared to 23 in the previous financial year.

Additionally, staff warnings saw a sharp decline, from 15 cases in Q2 of FY 2023/2024 to just 2, signaling a shift away from milder corrective actions.

At the same time, stern warnings rose to 7 cases, up from 2.

The reported cases include dishonesty, lack of integrity, fraud, negligence of duty, absenteeism, conflict of interest, impersonation, and other ethical breaches.

This renewed focus is supported by the introduction of a series of robust measures aimed at upholding integrity, ensuring accountability, and restoring public confidence in the tax administration system.

During the period under review, KRA received 246 corruption reports through iWhistle, with tax estimates totaling Ksh4-39 billion.

iWhistle is a web-based platform that enables the public to report corruption and tax evasion anonymously.

Lifestyle Audit

KRA has also implemented lifestyle audits, which have proven effective in identifying illicit wealth among staff.

In the period under review, six lifestyle audits were conducted, and 117 staff members underwent the vetting process.

Other key anti-corruption measures include profiling tax evaders and adopting a Whole of Government approach, promoting collaboration among public institutions to enhance compliance and curb tax evasion.

System Reviews

KRA has also embraced system reviews as a preventive and detective tool against corruption.

This complements the provisions of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003, in examining public bodies’ systems.

The review process leads to the revision of work procedures, policies, practices, and systems to minimize corruption opportunities.

During the period, one system review was conducted on the Refunds and Debt Management process in the Domestic Taxes Department.

KRA-EACC Meeting

This comes as the KRA Commissioner General, Humphrey Wattanga, held a strategic meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Abdi Mohamud on February 12.

The meeting was focused on strengthening cooperation and synergy between the two agencies in the fight against corruption, money laundering, tax fraud, and tax evasion in Kenya.

During the meeting, the two agreed on leveraging synergies to improve intelligence sharing, conduct joint investigations, and develop complementary strategies to effectively tackle the challenges posed by corruption, tax fraud, and evasion.