James Githii Mburu has been appointed as the new Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) following a special gazette notice issued on June 4, 2019, and published on Thursday
His appointment was signed by Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Planning, Henry Rotich.
The new boss will take up John Njiraini's office after his tenure came to an end, with the notice affirming that Mburu would take the mantle from July 1, 2019, and go to serve for a period of three years.
Njiraini had attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 on December 19, 2017, leading to backroom wars regarding his replacement.
Mr Njiraini’s exit and sourcing of his replacement had fuelled a boardroom war at the revenue authority that had a dramatic end after it pulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s hand who then sent the entire board packing.
The former boss had been at the helm of the revenue body since March 2012 when he replaced the then incumbent, Michael Waweru.
Mburu pipped four other candidates namely: Julius Waita Mwatu, Richard Buru Ndung’u, Andrew Kazora Okello and Duncan Otieno Onduru to the post after the position was advertised on local publications.
He had previously served as KRA's Intelligence and Strategic Operations Commissioner.
Activist, Okiya Omtatah, had moved to court to block the shortlisting of Mburu, claiming he is a relative of the outgoing boss.
“It is instructive that the petition sought to stop the capture of the KRA by vested interests through the choreographing of Mburu to succeed Njiraini," Omtatah argued during his petition.
