President Uhuru Kenyatta is a busy man. But he spent hours yesterday in a meeting that he should not have been invited to chair.
It is a matter of national shame for a dispute between importers and the KRA to spiral out of control and call for the President's arbitration. The KRA and the multi-agency that inspects cargo have competent staff to resolve such a dispute.
When goods land in Mombasa without pre-shipment inspection they are supposed to be shipped back at the cost of the importer. But traders have been taken through a harrowing and money wasting rigmarole for extortion purposes by bureaucrats.
The cargo stuck at the Nairobi Internal Container Depot in Embakasi should have been inspected by the Kenya Bureau of Standards. It beats logic how the same goods, in bonded warehouses, become illegal or contraband.
The multi-agency team that was supposed to rid the market of contraband, illegal and counterfeit commodities seems to have become a hurdle instead of a facilitator. How did the seized electronics, electric cables, medicines, foodstuff, alcoholic beverages, among other imports, get to Nairobi ICD?
KRA should get its house in order. The President should not be involved in the work of a middle-level manager.