The Kenya Revenue Authority has raised concern over a new trend that has seen unfettered entry of prohibited and restricted items such as guns and pornographic material into the country.
In a statement dated Tuesday, the agency stated that the trend has become more prevalent within the last 3 months with 5 percent of bags scanned at entry points flagged for such material
Other items KRA highlighted were being flagged during the scanning phase include; high-end mobile phones, drones and narcotic drugs.
KRA's statement came after Tourism Cabinet Secretary exposed several contraband items including sex toys during a media tour of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Going forward, travellers will be expected to declare some of the prohibited materials before they are allowed into the country.
The Authority maintained that it would continue being vigilant to ensure that prohibited material does not get into the country.
"From July to October of the financial year 2023/23; after the non-intrusive scanning of all baggage, KRA on average flagged out 5 per cent of all scanned bags which were processed in line with applicable Customs regulations on passenger categorization," read the statement in part.
On his part, KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga added that the taxman will continue leveraging technology to ensure the prohibited material does not make it into the country.
"We have further enhanced our processes through the use of technology to aid correct identification and verification of all baggage and imported items.
"Border control is a matter of national security and we are going to collaborate with relevant agencies to ensure the public is adequately sensitized on requirements for entry into Kenya," he reiterated.
On the other hand, Tourism CS Alfred Mutua who accompanied the KRA officials for the tour noted that they were putting systems in place to ensure that government policies such as taxation were enforced smoothly at the country entry points.
He explained that the partnership between the government agencies was aimed at ensuring a better experience for tourists at Kenyan airports following numerous harassment complaints.
Both domestic and foreign tourists had complained about being harassed at Kenyan airports including JKIA including having their property confiscated.
