An amendment to the Finance Bill 2017 released on Tuesday has given Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials the authority to raid homes and business premises of tax offenders without the presence of law enforcement officers.
KRA officers have in the past conducted these activities accompanied by state-provided police officers for protection and support of investigations as well as prosecution of the cases in court or before a tax tribunal.
The amendment relegates that a KRA officer has the "powers, rights, privileges and the protection of a police officer".
Effectively, the new law has enabled the taxman to conduct investigations and seize material to use as evidence in a court of law as police officers would.
"The authorised (KRA) officer shall have power to enter and search any premises or vessels and seize, collect and detain evidence and produce such evidence in any proceedings before a court of law or tax appeals tribunal," the Law states in part.
The KRA officers, however, have complained of the police sabotaging their efforts through their alleged incompetence and rampant mistakes made during the process of prosecuting tax offenders.
KRA claims the mistakes have resulted in the collapse of cases on technical grounds in many instances.
A reputable law firm has warned that the empowerment of the KRA officials will result in serious miscarriage of justice.
"While this (amendment) could be effective from the KRA’s perspective, it would lead to a conflict of interest as the KRA cannot be both a party to a High Court matter and at the same time the prosecutor," the firm observed.
