Inside the ugly conflict that has rocked taxman’s offices

A recent crackdown at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) that sought to uproot a tax evasion ring within the agency has opened a lid on operations of the organisation, unmasking ugly details going on at Times Tower.

A leaked letter to the board penned by suffocated staff details how the agency has employed detectives to monitor staff communication and association amid a raft of other limitations that have resulted in a toxic environment also characterised by favouritism and ‘inhuman’ restrictions like not being allowed to carry food and water into the building.

The fearful staff are also not allowed to seek donations or participate in any contributions unless authorised by the leadership, a move in which they read malice from their seniors keen not to have them act in solidarity in any way.

A fortnight ago, a revised code of conduct was circulated to the staff making it an offence “to apply, collect or solicit from other employees or from the members of the public for subscription, donations or any other form of assistance for the benefit of self or another employee without the written authority of the Head of Human Resource/Commissioner-General /authorised officer.”

“We read this as an attempt to punish staff who are actively involved in fundraising efforts for the legal fees and bail for our colleagues,” the staff complained to the board.

The bitterly-worded letter reveals that for the past six years, KRA staff have been barred from carrying food for ‘security reasons’, and those who seek exemption are required to obtain letters from their doctors to get a pass to access the building with food. The pass according the staff is renewable every three months.

The frustrated tax collectors also claim their communication is being tapped and movement monitored especially after tens of their colleagues were arrested and detained in what marked the peak of distress at Times Tower where work morale has hit its lowest.

HIRING

Bitter about the narrowing space to express their grievances, the staff now say KRA is not likely to achieve its objectives in an environment where everyone is pulling in different directions and called on the board to intervene.

“Intimidation of staff is rife and we cannot speak out in peace because we are reminded at every turn that our activities and communication are being closely monitored. Our communication is intercepted at will and the Authority has been flooded with intelligence operatives, ostensibly to spy on us so that we uphold integrity,” the staff told the board.

The Intelligence and Strategic Operations department, headed by Mr James Mburu, is said to be hiring more police/security trained officers than technical officers, adding to the discontent with the controversial candidate lined up in the race to replace the current Commissioner-General John Njiraini whose term has lapsed.

On Thursday, activist Okiya Omtatah moved to court to block KRA from announcing the new Commissioner-General until his case challenging the suitability of Mr Mburu as a commissioner is heard and determined. The court declined to give orders, but directed the matter be heard mid this month.

In a letter dated May 29, 2018, Mr Omtatah, through his Kenyans for Justice and Development, said Mr Mburu is unsuitable to be declared the next Commissioner-General since he “represents institutional capture of the KRA vested interests”.

Mr Mburu, together with Mr Julius Mwatu, Mr Richard Ndung'u, Mr Andrew Okello and Mr Duncan Onduru have been shortlisted by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to be considered for the position.

OPAQUE

Mr Mburu is also rumoured to be a front-runner in the Njiraini succession with the staff protest letter now reviving debate on his rapid ascent at Times Towers.

He was also among the five shortlisted candidates for the position of Commissioner in charge of Investigations and Enforcement, which was taken by Mr David Yego.

He was thrust into controversy by the Auditor-General, who was not only questioned on the legality of his newly created office of the Intelligence and Strategic Operations (ISO), but also on how he was appointed to head it.

The staff are also not happy with the recent appointment of Ms Elizabeth Odundo and Mr Kevin Safari to head the Domestic Taxes and Customs and Border Control departments respectively. The say the process was opaque.

“We have seen flawed recruitment processes especially in the appointment of the ISO commissioner which we are well aware is an issue raised by our external auditors. We are convinced that any fight to uphold integrity driven by a department whose very existence defies that integrity, lacks genuineness,” the staff write.

TRANSFERS

The staff also decries arbitrary transfers which they say happen in “a disruptive and unreasonable manner”. According to them, KRA does not consider how long one has stayed at a station away from his/her family and while some people had stayed in one station for over 15 years, others had been moved several times within a period of three or less years.

The employment of staff in contracts is also said to have created a succession planning gap with the fizzling out of the Graduate Trainee programme especially for the revenue departments.

Entry level staff on contract are also said to be a risk since they handle sensitive taxpayer information and when they leave, it is hard to keep track on what they do with the information they gather from KRA.

KRA staff also work with personal laptops due to lack of computers while in some stations, staff are said to be contributing money to buy office basics like printing paper.

The move is said to have triggered a go-slow in the aftermath of the arrests where staff in some departments are said to have left their machines at home in protest, grinding services to a halt.

“Go slow is real at KRA. Junior technical tax staff, say about 35 per cent, do not have computers,” a source told the Nation.

Additional reporting by Wanjohi Githae