Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung'u on Tuesday announced Humphrey Wattanga Mulongo as the next Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General, nearly six months after Githii Mburu resigned leaving an acting boss as the State kicked off the search for a substantive head.
Wattanga is not new to public service, but he is seen as an outsider at KRA, having started his career in the private sector in 2000 in top global firms before joining the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) as a commissioner in 2017 and later appointed vice-chairperson.
Wattanga's road to c-suite was laid down in 1990 when he emerged as the top candidate in that year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), scoring straight As. He studied at Alliance High School.
He received the Dr Ouko Award for Academic Excellence and secured an internship at the East Africa Industries (UNILEVER) in Nairobi.
Wattanga joined the University of Nairobi but his academics were disrupted due to frequent strikes. It was at the peak of anti-government protests in the push for multiparty democracy.
In 1992, the new KRA Commissioner General joined the prestigious Harvard University to study Biochemistry and graduated in 1996.
He joined the Wharton School in 1998 for an MBA in Information Systems Strategy and Economics and Healthcare Management.
His first job was as a Marketing Manager at Agillion before moving to American telco AT&T /SBC Communications in 2002 as a Business Development Manager.
The Harvard-trained policy advisor later joined AFCORP Investments, a specialist Pan African private investment banking, business development, and transaction advisory firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Kenya, as a senior partner.
His first stint in public service was at the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) as a commissioner and vice chair. Until his appointment to Times Towers, Wattanga served as the Managing Director of Meghraj Capital.
Wattanga boasts of over 2 decades of experience in corporate governance and business development.
In his new position, the commissioner general has his work cut out for him with the Ruto government aiming to raise Ksh2.768 trillion in the 2023/2024 financial year to fund his activities and stabilise the economy.
The state also raised revenue collection targets for the 2024/2025 financial year to Ksh3 trillion, a majority of which is expected to originate from an expanded tax base.
