Court throws out KRA's Njiraini suit

A court has thrown out a suit seeking to nullify the appointment of Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner General John Njiraini.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) had moved to court seeking orders to stop the KRA Board and the Ministry of Finance from recruiting a new Commissioner-General as the hiring process was "shrouded in mystery".

The organisation wanted the process started afresh.

In a statement, Cofek said it had "gracefully" accepted the court decision but was mulling its options.

"We have 14 days to appeal the ruling, which we are actively considering," the consumer lobby said on its Facebook page.

However, then Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta named Mr Njiraini as KRA's Commissioner General following recommendation from the Board.

Cofek argued that the interviews, which were closed to the public, were unconstitutional, unjustified and unreasonable.

“The KRA board is under a legal duty to recruit the Commissioner General in a competitive, transparent, fair and open manner,” the federation’s lawyer Henry Kuaruka told the court.

It also accused the KRA Board of starting the recruitment process without allowing public participation which is contrary to the law.

On Wednesday, High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola certified the case as urgent and directed the parties to appear in court on Friday for the hearing.

Before his appointment, Mr Njiraini was the authority's Commissioner of Domestic Taxes and was pivotal in ensuring MPs were finally looped into the tax bracket. He replaced Michael Waweru who retired in March.

The post of Commissioner of Domestic Taxes was taken by Pancrasius Nyagah.