Only six vehicles in tax fraud presented for KRA inspection

Water and Irrigation CS Eugene Wamalwa's personal vehicle, a Range Rover Vogue, was among six others presented for inspection by KRA for being fraudulently registered.

The cabinet secretary’s vehicle had been registered as an Isuzu lorry.

However, only six out of the 124 vehicles whose owners were summoned to present them for inspection at the Kenya Revenue Authority Railways Club Branch on Tuesday, were availed.

Mr Wamalwa’s Personal Assistant Kizito Temba said it was not the CS's fault that the vehicle had fraudulently been registered or duty on the vehicle not paid, as he was only a second owner.

“The CS requested me this morning to avail the car here for inspection after seeing its registration number amongst those on the KRA notice in the dailies. I am here to say that the CS is not a tax cheat.

Before the CS bought the vehicle we did a search with NTSA and confirmed that duty at KRA had been paid,” said Mr Temba as he showed the Log Book and other KRA documents to the press.

Mr Wamalwa bought the vehicle from Grace Wambui Waraki in March this year. The log book shows the duty was paid.

“The problem must be with KRA. There is an internal problem with their system. The problem is not with the buyers and they need to unearth it and address it so they stop these cheap embarrassments to innocent vehicle owners,” he said.

Mr Temba said KRA needed to deal with the syndicate at its offices and NTSA that has caused the mess.

KRA officials from various departments spent the entire day waiting for owners of the 124 vehicles published in a public notice put in the newspapers to present their vehicles for inspection.

The six vehicles were seized and taken to KRA customs control at around 4:30pm.

Mr Githii Mburu, a KRA commissioner in charge of the department of investigations and enforcement, said they would be held there until investigations are concluded.

He said the outcome of their investigations would guide their next action.

He they will seek for arrest warrants for those who will not avail their vehicles for inspection and an order to impound those vehicles.

“We have gone into the records and said that the details of these vehicles cannot be changed because they are under investigation,” he said, “Whoever enters the system and tries to change anything we shall get them.”

He said all the officers within KRA who are implicated in the syndicate shall be prosecuted once ongoing investigations are concluded.

“Some people have imported vehicles and duty has not been paid, yet they are already registered. We have vehicles whose chassis have been superimposed. A Fielder was brought here today when what we expected was a BMW 520d. These are illegal transactions,” he said.

He said initial owners that registered such vehicles without payment of duty and then sold them to a second buyer would be charged for being in possession of the said vehicles.

He said vehicles that are on the list once cleared would be delisted.

Some members of public walked in on foot to enquire on the process but were told statements could not be recorded without their vehicles being presented for inspection.

Those who brought their vehicles claimed to have been to KRA and done searches and been cleared and were puzzled that they were in the black books of the tax man.

“We have complied and paid duty and had ascertained beyond reasonable doubt that we had paid duty,” a vehicle owner who did not want to be identified told Mr Mburu.