Kenya Revenue Authority has appealed a High Court order to grant lawyer Tom Ojienda a tax compliance certificate over a pending Sh 444 million tax bill.
The court gave KRA until Wednesday to issue Ojienda with his tax compliance certificate for the year 2018-2019.
High Court Judge Wilfrida Okwany said Ojienda has established that he has an arguable case and also proved that he will suffer prejudice if the order isn’t granted.
The judge ruled that KRA failed to state what loss it will suffer if the order is issued.
But KRA, in an application on Wednesday,
wants the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling issued and the consequential orders be set aside and be substituted with a judgement dismissing the respondent application for conservatory orders.
Through lawyer Kenneth Kirugi, KRA
wants the costs of the appeal and those of the application seeking stay pending appeal be awarded to the appellant.
Kirugi argues that the judge erred by failing to appreciate that the orders issued by Okwany were mandatory orders.
"...the grant of which ought to be in the clearest of circumstances and KRA met his tax obligations ..no such clear circumstances existed," Kirugi said.
He said the judge erred in fact by issuing contradictory orders that were already in existence.
"The judge erred by issuing a ruling and the consequential orders which were in clear violation of the Tax procedures act. She
erred by issuing orders that the compliance would leave the appellant in violation of the very statute it is mandated to enforce that the tax procedures act," he said.
Kirugi said Okwany also erred by failing to appreciate the statutory impact of a tax compliance certificate in this countries tax administration system.
"She erred by usurping the power of the appellant by granting the orders as she did and without due regard to the provisions of the tax act," he said.
"The judge erred by failing to appreciate that the orders would amount to exonerating KRA from his tax obligations."
Ojienda had sued KRA seeking to have it compelled to issue him with a tax compliance certificate.
He said the actions of KRA are deliberately calculated malicious moves to ensure that he is locked out of the nomination of the LSK male representative to the JSC race that is set to be concluded on December 10.
Also read: