Kenya Revenue Authority has enhanced its surveillance to eradicate the production and sale of illicit liquor, Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga now says.
This comes after the national government issued various actions targeted at eradicating illicit brews and drug and substance abuse in the country
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Trade on Thursday, Wattanga said KRA has stationed officers at all excisable goods manufacturing plants, to enhance compliance.
The Excise Duty regulations allow KRA to station its officers at factories producing excise tax-covered goods such as beer, wines and spirits, cigarettes, mineral water, soft drinks, juices among others.
The officers, also known as resident staff, implement compliance, service support and enforcement initiatives including disclosure of any irregularities and discrepancies, to ensure correct payment and filing of excise taxes by the manufacturers.
According to the taxman, the staff complements other monitoring measures such as CCTV cameras inside factories, wired to KRA system to enhance security.
KRA was responding to a petition tabled before the Senate seeking a statement on what the tax collector is doing to enforce compliance at manufacturers like East African Breweries Limited.
Wattanga said there are no variations in manufacturing ingredients that have tax implications dating back to five years.
It was reported that Kenya Breweries Limited contributed over 60 per cent of domestic excise collections in the financial year 2021-22 and 2022-23.
"KRA continues to collaborate with other government agencies within the multi-agency framework to promote legitimate trade and protect the society against harmful products such as illicit alcohol, through various operations, border patrols, surveillance and monitoring of cargo," Wattanga said.
In the current financial year 2023-24, the authority has implemented 976 interventions on illicit trade, resulting in the seizure of varying products with a market value of Sh897.244 million.
The taxman affirmed his commitment to collaborating with all state agencies in the fight against illicit brews, drug and substance abuse.