Keroche Breweries has filed a contempt application against the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General Githii Mburu over alleged disobedience of court orders to reopen the alcohol processing plant.
In the application, the brewer said it is on the verge of suffering a loss of beer valued at Sh350 million.
Keroche reckons that Mr Mburu has defied court orders of July 14 directing KRA to reopen the plant in Naivasha and allow the brewer to operate, pending determination of the tax evasion suit.
Keroche was shut last month after it breached terms of repaying Sh957 million tax arrears over a period of 24 months and failed to pay a cent in duty from beer sales since its March reopening.
Owned by the Karanja family, Keroche previously linked its woes to a Sh351 million demand, but the KRA painted the brewer a cheat who owes the State more than Sh22 billion in unpaid taxes. The brewer wants court to throw the KRA boss to a civil jail for six months as punishment for the alleged disobedience.
"The court order was issued in presence of the KRA's lawyer and on July 15, 2022, at 4.30 pm KRA was furnished with the same order which they acknowledged receipt and stamped on the same," said the brewer in the court papers. The KRA went back to the High Court seeking to reverse a decision directing it to re-open Keroche Breweries.
Justice Abigail Mshila declined to certify the case as urgent as sought by KRA and instead directed the case to be heard by Justice Mabeya on September 22.
Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja told court the brewer risks suffering loss of 87,500 litres of beer that had been filtered and ready for packaging.
She also said the plant will lose 1,250,000 litres of beer that was ready for filtration and packaging and other finished products in the stores. The total value of the beer is Sh350 million, she stated.
Keroche says it will suffer burden of accruing interest on loans from its banks and loss of market share following the absence of its products in the market.
Ms Karanja said the company lawyers had on July 20 written to Mr Mburu seeking intervention on the compliance of the court orders.
In March, the brewer was offered 24 months to clear tax arrears amounting to Sh957 million which are undisputed.
The taxman said that the rest of the disputed taxes would be handled through alternative dispute resolution agreements signed in 2021.
Ms Karanja says that Keroche can easily offset the Sh957 million tax arrears should it be allowed to resume operations.
