Reports from the corridors of the taxman have it that a staff go-slow is on the boil, thanks to the recent arrest of staff suspected to have engaged in corruption. In a statement addressing the fears, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) assured that their services would continue uninterrupted even as the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) continue to pursue 48 other staff on top of the ones arrested last Friday. The 38 are still in custody and will remain for at least 14 days.

The arresting body, DCI requested for more detention time of up to 21 days from the court to allow them more time to retrieve seized mobile phones and laptop computers data. The devices total to 178 and data to be retrieved also include leading mobile money platform MPESA statements for forensic examination. They argued that the runaway 48 could interfere with investigations. The most affected departments in the national tax collector include the domestic tax department and customs and border control.

The agency hasn’t come out clearly on how much revenue had been lost in the corrupt dealings of their officers but this is something Kenyans will surely be following closely even as they continue to pay high tax rates notwithstanding the soaring cost of living in the country. The arrested staff are suspected of aiding clearing of cargo fraudulently and altering tax return information to help people evade tax payments.

These arrests come even as the KRA continue to fail in hitting revenue targets to fund the government budget. A Shs. 97.7 billion short of the target was so far acknowledged into the current financial year 9 months on. The authority staff have been under covert surveillance over the last four months which included trailing of personal communications and funds. We shall keep you updated on the developments on this unfolding story.