Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) commissioner general Githii Mburu has been appointed as one of three vice chairpersons of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) global tax body.
OECD has appointed Mr Mburu to the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes for a three-year term effective January 2023.
The appointment was made during the 15th Global Forum Plenary meeting held in Spain where the commissioner general also chaired the 12th Africa Initiative Meeting.
Mr Mburu will be part of the body that works to influence and promote cooperation among tax authorities by building capacity and offering technical assistance in the fight against tax evasion.
The forum also includes a chair from France and two other vice chairpersons from Italy and Japan. The members comprise 16 people picked from different countries making it a 20-member committee.
Mr Mburu’s appointment comes at the lapse of his two-year as the first Africa Initiative Chairperson, a regional institute established to promote tax transparency and sharing of information among tax authorities in Africa.
Kenya joined the global tax forum in 2009, enabling the country to receive tax information from over 130 jurisdictions that are part of the body.
The 50-year-old was appointed KRA commissioner general in 2019, taking over from Mr John Njiraini.
A long-time insider at the agency’s audit and intelligence units, Mr Mburu was well placed to know where revenue leakages were occurring, which taxpayers were culpable and the people inside the KRA abetting the evasion.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Kenyatta University and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Analysis from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
