MPs give KRA boss ultimatum over Sh64bn edible oil tax loss claims
Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga Mulongo when he appeared before the National Assembly Finance and Planning Committee at Bunge Towers on May 23, 2024.
A committee of the National Assembly has given the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner-General Humphrey Wattanga a seven-day ultimatum to appear before it and respond to claims that the country may have lost Sh62 billion in taxes in a palm oil import deal by Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) Asia PTA Limited and Louis Dreyfus Company Kenya (LDC) Limited.
This comes after Mr Wattanga, who was scheduled to appear before the Finance and National Planning Committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday, failed to do so. The KRA boss instead requested to appear before the committee on November 26, 2024, triggering protests from the parliamentary team.
Ainamoi MP Benjamin Lang’at, the committee vice chairman who chaired Tuesday's morning session, accused the taxman’s management of “dereliction of duty” and warned of sanctions against Mr Wattanga if he fails to show up in Parliament next week.
“As an oversight arm of the government, this committee directs that the KRA management appear before this committee on Tuesday next week without fail or face the necessary sanctions,” directed Mr Lang’at.
“It is a criminal matter that the country could be losing trillions in taxes through misdeclaration of goods.”
The summons follows the submission to the committee of documents showing alleged misdeclaration of taxes on the products imported by LDC companies for use in Kenya and other East African countries through the Mombasa port.
To get to the bottom of the matter, the committee wants Mr Wattanga to provide details of the total cargo volume of palm oil imported by LDC Asia PTA through the Port of Mombasa between February 23, 2023, and June 26, 2024.
The committee said the details should include the volumes of RBD palm stearin, crude palm kernel oil, crude palm olein, crude palm oil and crude palm fatty acid distillate.
The committee also wants Mr Wattanga to provide details of the total taxes and fees paid by LDC Asia PTA on imports of palm oil cargoes from between February 23, 2023, and June 26, 2024.
Copies of all import declaration documents, including but not limited to port health reports, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS) reports, bills of lading and cargo manifests for all the 120 cargoes of palm oil imported by the company between February 23, 2023, and June 26, 2024, are also required.
The committee has also requested a list of consignees for all the palm oil cargo volumes imported by the company during this period.
The committee is also seeking details of the cargo volumes of RBD palm stearin, crude palm kernel oil, crude palm olein, crude palm oil and crude palm fatty acid distillate imported by LDC- Kenya Limited, Acee Limited, Mazeras Oil Limited and Vipingo Industries Limited through the port of Mombasa during the period.
Further, Mr Wattanga is required to provide details of the taxes and fees paid by LDC- Kenya Limited, Acee Limited, Mazeras Oil Limited and Vipingo Industries Limited in the importation of the palm oil products between February 23, 2023, and June 26, 2024.
Copies of all import declaration documents for palm oil cargo by the companies through the Port of Mombasa for the period are also required.
The copies, the committee stated, should not be limited to port health reports, Kebs, SGS reports, bills of lading, and cargo manifests.
