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KRA appraises senior managers monthly Sh1.71 trillion tax target

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Francis Muthaura. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The Kenya Revenue Authority board has resorted to reviewing the performance of senior managers every month to achieve nearly Sh1.71 trillion tax target this financial year ending June 2022.

Board chairman Francis Muthaura says the performance of commissioners, who were handed longer contracts last year than their predecessors, is now being monitored monthly under a performance-based management system.

“That has worked very well because there is a high degree of accountability, effort and continuous monitoring,” he said.

“That way, we are able to tell which department is not performing and what needs to be done as a remedy.”

Treasury secretary Ukur Yatani in August last year expanded the renewable contracts of KRA commissioners, including commissioner-general Githii Mburu, to five from three years on the board’s recommendation.

The KRA management has reported beating the monthly targets for the first three months of the current fiscal year after collecting nearly Sh476.65 billion in direct taxes and agency fees on behalf of other state bodies.

That was Sh14.99 billion above a goal of Sh461.65 billion for the quarter, the taxman said in its monthly revenue update.

Collections in September surpassed the target by Sh9.87 billion to nearly Sh184.89 billion, August’s overshot goal by Sh4.82 billion to Sh138.91 while July’s receipts were Sh311 million above Sh152.54 billion target, according to the KRA management.

Before August last year, the commissioners served on three-year renewable contracts before they were expanded to five years. The contract is terminated before the end of five years if a commissioner reaches the retirement age of 60.

“The rationale behind this expansion is that we don’t want people to feel insecure in the course of service delivery,” Mr Muthaura said.

“These roles are very important and our objective is to ensure that the occupants of these offices have stability of mind and concentrate on their work. So far, we have nothing to complain about. The results are excellent.”

Revenue data published by Mr Yatani last Friday showed tax receipts amounted for three months through September amounted to Sh416.82 billion — a 31.21 percent jump compared with Sh317.68 billion in the same period last year.