President William Ruto has ordered the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to go after a company owned by a senior member of the society after receiving a tip-off via SMS.
Speaking during the 2023 Taxpayers Day in Mombasa County, Ruto revealed an anonymous source reported the company to him, claiming that it was yet to pay accrued taxes.
According to Ruto, the company, which has not been disclosed yet, was also notorious for threatening and intimidating KRA officials.
To make true his threats, the Head of State forwarded the number of the anonymous Kenyan to the Authority, urging the pair to liaise in tracking down the company.
However, he deviated from revealing the well-connected individual, the operations of the company and its location.
"I got an interesting message yesterday from a patriotic Kenyan, and I sent it to the KRA Commissioner. The Kenyan says that there is a company which doesn't pay tax, and they threaten people because it belongs to some senior people.
"I sent the contact to the KRA and I told him that no matter how big, or senior the owners of that company are, they must pay taxes," he stated.
On the other hand, he called on Kenyans to emulate the concerned whistleblower, maintaining that all citizens must pay taxes regardless of their social status.
Ruto explained that the payment of taxes by all Kenyans would help the government implement its development agenda and offer services to Kenyans.
He also promised to be ruthless on those who will squander taxpayers' money regardless of their ranks and affiliations.
"Nobody should threaten KRA using their positions and connections to avoid paying taxes.
"We must all pay taxes and once we have paid tax, then we must demand from the government that our taxes are used properly," he added.
The Head of state also affirmed that he had set a target of Ksh3 trillion for KRA and hoped that it would surpass Ksh4 trillion next year.
