How KRA recovered Sh6.8 billion through whistleblowing

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) recovered Sh6.8 billion in 2024 through leads from whistleblowers.

The Authority attributed this collection to its Anti-corruption intervention through the iWhistle programme, which facilitated the collection from 821 cases that were reported anonymously.

This emerged at a citizens' assembly, where the authority's staff were called out for corruption and hostility towards customers.

The iWhistle programme profiles tax evaders and review refunds and debt management as an intervention to combat corruption and seal revenue leakages.

Tax Leakages

During a town hall meeting between KRA and taxpayers, Kenyans expressed a lack of faith in whistleblowing, fearing the wave of abductions seen in the country targeting whistleblowers who scrutinize public finance and expenditure.

At the townhall, Ndiritu Muriithi, KRA’s board chairman, assured the safety of the platform, noting that it has helped the authority recover money and investigate its staff on fraud allegations.

“Internally, we were able to process 45 staff integrity cases that were reported through iWhistle,” he responded, encouraging citizens to report incidences of misconduct from staff.

Taxpayers at the town hall raised issues such as a poor experience at KRA offices, interference with business operations through multiple interventions, and corruption.

 Further, they have decried inefficiencies in the transition to E-tims, and inefficient trade facilitation.

Business Environment

Insinuating that the revenue authority is out of touch with the reality on the ground, taxpayers asked that the authority listen to business.

A taxpayer and accountant, Martin Waweru, accused the authority of implementing tax laws in a rush.

“We appreciate the integration and digitization, but to what extend is it bringing good that disrupting businesses?” Waweru retorted noting that when the business environment is stiff, businesses find non-compliant ways to run businesses.

“We need some relaxation on the implementation period. If the people have shown a positive attitude towards compliance,” Waweru urged the authority.

Joseph Kuya, a trader and a person with disability, laments that for over two years, he has not been able to transact business because he has been denied a Tax Compliance Certificate.

“Listen to businesses and allow us to have this Tax Compliance Certificate, then we can have an agreement on how to pay these debts” Mr. Kuya said.

“Even if I stay ten years without having to work, I may just find other ways to work without having to pay these taxes,” he added.

Commissioner George Obel, encouraged taxpayers to provide relevant information and documents when seeking compliance certificates to ensure ease of addressing their concerns.

Addressing the issue of multiple interventions, the commissioner said that they are building an interface to ensure that taxpayers see all interventions on audit, compliance and debt.

“We have not created a very good visibility of all the interventions that we take on the taxpayers. I commit is that you will see less and less of that because we are going to integrate our activities as we go,” Mr. Obel said at the townhall meeting.

To improve customer service at its quarters, the authority has said, it is working to reduce foot traffic through digital integration, and the E-Citizen.

To address the issue of double taxation, the authority has said that the problem can be alleviated through the expansion of double tax agreements.

“We are in discussion with the National Treasury to ensure that we expand the double tax agreements to ensure that we relieve taxpayers from the burden of being taxed twice,” KRA Commissioner.

 Customs

The issue of corruption at the customs has been reiterated by operators from the freight and warehousing sector.

Kate Masifo, a player in the freight forwarding space, said that the systems are not well streamlined in the export space.

She lamented that corruption and intricate processes discourage her operations.

“I am very new to the industry, so I am trying to get my footing. But if all my money is going on facilitation, I feel that is very unfair on my part,” she said noting that with such unfavorable operating environment, she is robbed of a competitive edge.

KRA’s commissioner, Humphrey Wattanga noted that “at KRA, we fully acknowledge that integrity challenges exist,”.

“We undertake lifestyle audits, looking after our staff. Two weeks ago, we sent home on compulsory leave 26 customs officials,” Wattanga said the officers are going to be subjected to further investigations.

Revenue

In September 2025, the Kenya Revenue Authority collected Sh84.146 billion in customs tax, representing the highest amount ever collected in a single month in the authority’s history.

The figure surpassed the previous record of Sh82.554 billion set in January 2025.

This customs collection exceeded the monthly target of Sh81.341 billion by Sh3.806 billion, achieving a performance rate of 104.7 per cent. This outstanding result also marks a year-on-year growth of 18.8 per cent compared to the same period in the previous financial year.

According to the authority, performance is driven by strong collections from both trade and petroleum taxes.

“Trade taxes contributed Sh51,737.92 billion against a target of Sh50.739 billion, reflecting a 22.1 per cent growth from the corresponding period last year and a performance rate of 102.0 per cent. Meanwhile, petroleum taxes recorded an exceptional 109.2 per cent performance rate by collecting Sh33.408 billion against a target of Sh30.602 billion.

Intervention

In a bid to enhance access to taxpayer services across the country, the tax body said it is in the process of introducing Stationless Personal Identification Number (PIN) Service Delivery.

Muriithi said KRA is retooling how taxpayers access support from KRA in keeping with their evolving needs.

This shift is expected to reduce service delays, enhance efficiency, and make taxpayer interactions with KRA more convenient, without visiting tax offices for PIN assistance.

KRA is rolling out an agent model, commonly used by banks and mobile phone service providers, to extend its footprint, and complement its current service points. The first cohort of 10,000 agents is set to be recruited this year. These agents will provide basic services such as registration, tax filing, and payments