Scared KRA staff forced to form Whatsapp groups to bail out colleagues

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As detectives raided the Mombasa offices in the ongoing crackdown on KRA officials suspected of aiding tax evasion for the better part of Tuesday, tension has gripped all of their employees in other offices across the country.

Some are said to be in panic mood that they can’t execute their mandate normally.

The staff have since formed a WhatsApp group through which they are trying to raise money to bail out arrested colleagues.

In Mombasa, detectives are also said to have raided several homes of KRA officers thought to be on the run.

The panic started in Nairobi headquarters where top managers were forced to hold a crisis meeting with the members.

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This came as most employees blamed outgoing Commissioner General John Njiraini who is said to have orchestrated the crackdown that has so far seen 53 of their colleagues appear before court over abuse of office and tax evasion charges.

According to reports, detectives are now hunting down 22 employees believed to have been part of the racket but have gone underground following the wave of arrests.

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However, this has come at cost with services at KRA seemingly slower.

The operations are at a snail’s pace as anxious employees feared they would be next on the chopping board.

Detectives from the Special Crimes Unit reportedly raided the port of Mombasa and the Customs House and confiscated documents they believed to be key in their investigations.

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Senior resident magistrate Paul Mayova on Monday allowed police to detain the suspects to enable officers retrieve data from 178 seized phones and laptops as well as M-Pesa statements for forensic examination.

The employees on the run are part of about 100 staff being investigated for fraudulent clearance of cargo and altering of tax returns to help in tax evasion. Others are accused of issuing tax compliance certificates illegally.

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This came as Njiraini and KRA board chairman Francis Muthaura sought to assure staff that normalcy had returned but to no avail.

They reportedly held series of meetings with departmental heads and staff, to assure them that in future, such an operation would be conducted in a different manner and urged them to continue operations without interruption.

However, the staff were not convinced and are said to have dismissed the assurances, saying they no longer trusted Njiraini and demanded that he issues a memo on the same.

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At the end of the day, Muthaura released an internal memo assuring staff while another statement was dispatched to newsrooms.

“This should, therefore, neither be characterised as a personal agenda driven by specific individuals within the authority nor as a scheme targeting groups or categories of staff,” Muthaura said.

He also reaffirmed KRA’s resolve to continue with the fight against corruption and other fraudulent activities.

“The board treats incidences of tax evasion as serious crime that demand resolute action against both taxpayers and staff members who may abet such practices. We wish to express our confidence in the Commissioner General and the management team and assure the public that the operations of KRA continue uninterrupted,” he said.

He said revenue collection services at the agency continued uninterrupted despite the crackdown.

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