• Mutua questioned why the harassment does not happen in other African countries when one visits as a tourist, yet they collect the same taxes KRA officials claim to be looking for.
• Mutua insisted that it is time Kenya made her visitors feel welcome by stopping some practices.
Tourism and Wildlife CS, Alfred Mutua has accused the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials of harassing tourists who visit the country at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. https://rb.gy/n9u4b
Image: ALFRED MUTUA/ X
Tourism and Wildlife CS, Alfred Mutua has accused the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials of harassing tourists who visit the country at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
In a video seen by the Star, the CS who was speaking during a stakeholder meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) alleged that the reported harassment is the reason Kenya continues to drop from the list of top tourist destinations in Africa.
Mutua questioned why the harassment does not happen in other African countries when one visits as a tourist, yet they collect the same taxes KRA officials claim to be after.
"We harass our visitors when they come to this country and then we wonder why they don't come back. You go to Rwanda they don't harass you, kwani Rwanda don't collect taxes? You go to South Africa they don't collect taxes?
"You go to Dubai they don't harass you. Why are they harassing our visitors here? They will never come back to Kenya, and we wonder why we dropped to number four. Why are people not coming to Kenya," the CS said.
Mutua insisted that it is time Kenya made her visitors feel welcome by stopping some practices.
He noted that as CS for Tourism, that is one of the things he intends to fix, to make Kenya friendly to visitors.
"We have to present the right optics, people have to get that warm feeling. You go to Singapore today nobody harasses you. You go the the Seychelles, the Maldives, nobody opens your bag because you are a tourist. Those are some of the things that we have to correct and now you have the right leader to correct it."
The Tourism CS noted that KRA staff are not to blame, but they have bad habits.
He promised that if the country wants to rake in revenue from Tourism, the harassment of visitors must stop immediately.
"We'll ask them either you tell us to close down the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife and focus on other things. But if you want us to collect money and get this country to be rich then stop harassing our product. Na watu wa KRA si wabaya, wana tabia mbaya (The people at KRA are not bad, they have bad manners)," Mutua said.
Earlier this week, the taxation of personal goods at points of entry into Kenya upset a section of the public.
However, on seeking clarification about alleged harassment and taxation of personal goods, KRA Deputy Commissioner, Marketing and Communication Grace Wandera referred the Star to the KRA Customs Handbook on arrival and departure information, which details the requirements for travellers.
But there are still concerns over exorbitant taxes, which have forced some individuals to abandon their items.
A clause that gives customs officers the powers to determine the value of goods and their taxable status is seen as a gap to impose taxes where they should not apply, amid cries of harassment by customs officials.