Activist-cum-businessman Morara Kebaso has broken his silence after reports that the government had gone after him over unpaid taxes.
In a statement on Thursday, January 9, Kebaso called out the public nature of the probe despite tax matters being a private matter.
“Tax matters are private and confidential. I don’t know why mine is being investigated in the media,” part of the statement read.
"State agencies should not be weaponized to silence voices of truth and accountability. This is a clear attempt to push me to my knees so that I agree to collaborate with corrupt leaders in the mismanagement of our country.”
He went on to claim that the entire process was a political witchhunt which he believed was clear to Kenyans.
“Kenyans are very wise they can differentiate a genuine tax investigation and a political witchhunt. I will continue to speak truth to power without fear.”
In another post, Kebaso distanced himself from a company namely Igrow Digital Enterprise stating that it was a youth group registered in 2014 by his campus mates but it never took off due to lack of funding.
“For the record, I do not own Igrow Digital Enterprise. It is a youth group that we registered as schoolmates in 2014 when we were in the university.”
“The business never started because we did not get the capital to start. We hoped to get money from the government through the Youth Enterprise Fund but never got it.”
On Wednesday, January 8, it was revealed that the taxman was going after Kebaso's businesses over Ksh27 million in unpaid taxes over three years.
According to the report, Kebaso has three bank accounts for his real estate and furniture businesses and one registered to him.
It further revealed that the businesses raked in Ksh9.5 million in 2022, another Ksh31.9 million in 2023, and Ksh144.9 million in 2024, adding up to Ksh186.3 million over the last three years.
The two businesses are said to have been receiving payments via paybill.
"The trade credits were compared with income tax turnover declared in the income tax returns, to which it was noted that you are a non-filer, to determine undeclared income turnover. It was noted that you are not registered for Value Added Tax (VAT)," read the report.
