Tabitha Karanja Wants Ruto to end State Capture

• Author
• Recent Posts

Chrispen

Business || Brand strategist || Marketing - We make and break Brands®

Latest posts by Chrispen (see all)

• What BBC has Found out About President Ruto - November 23, 2024
• X Introduces M-Pesa Payment Feature - November 22, 2024
• Matiang’i Ordered to Appear in Court - November 22, 2024

Monday, February 6, 2023 ––Nakuru County Senator Tabitha Karanja has blamed the Kenya Revenue Authority KRA for interfering with the smooth flow of her multimillion Keroche Breweries empire.

Speaking about this over the weekend, Ms Karanja argued that her company can nolonger attract investments as well as bank loans after KRA accused them of tax evasion.

She seized the opportunity to ask the current government of William Ruto to help resolve all ‘state captured’ businesses so that they can come back to life.

According to the Nakuru Senator, State capture is behind the long-running multi-billion-shilling tax case with her Naivasha-based firm.

The company has been facing monthlong closures and threats over the past years add effects of Corona virus and this threw the business into a state of disarray.

She added that, within the past three years, her company had registered poor prospects and progress with a loss of sh 20 billion.

“Let’s all support His Excellency the President (William Ruto) on his call to increase the tax bracket and collections but we cannot achieve that if we continue frustrating the existing tax payers and putting state captures, use of mercenary tactics and terrorizing local businesses.

“In fact, we demand immediate release from these state captures,” Senator Karanja stated on Sunday, February 6.

Explaining the background behind the Ksh14.1 billion tax battle with the tax man, Keroche noted that it stemmed from a dispute over the calculation of excise tax on their Vienna Ice ready-to-drink vodka brand.

Keroche company produces this brand by diluting their Crescent Vodka brand with distilled water from their brewery source.

Therefore, the company is challenging KRA’s computed figures which erroneously charged excise duty on the 162 million litres of water used to dilute the vodka, at a rate of sh 120/litre amounting to sh 12.1 billion and the resultant VAT of sh 1.9 billion.

This calculation resulted into the publicized tax bill of sh 14 billion which was announced in 2019.