By Cynthia Kenyani
Local brewer –Keroche is set to lay
off 400 employees following the Kenya Revenue Authority’s closure of the firm
over a tax dispute.
Keroche Breweries CEO Tabitha Karanja
addressing the media
The tax collector accused the company of defaulting on an earlier agreed
plan to repay tax arrears totalling Sh300 million.
Keroche – CEO Tabitha Karanja, alluded that the KRA’s move to
shutdown Keroche breweries was politically motivated.
“I was thinking aloud on Sunday afternoon and pondering how I will
relay the painful message to our employees on Monday that we will be laying
them off as a result of KRA’s closure. I was also at pains as I looked at all
the beer in the tanks that we shall be forced to drain to waste and wondered
why and how the relevant ministries remain so indifferent to the dire
consequences of the current closure of the company’s factory,” she said.
She turned her wrath to the Ministry of Interior and Coordination
of the National Government, she said the Fred Matiang’i-led docket should be
concerned that about 400 direct and thousands of other indirect jobs are on the
brink of being lost.
Karanja now wants the Labour ministry to be concerned and
interrogate the matter to safeguard the welfare of the employees.
“It is my humble request that all the relevant authorities be
requested to rise to the occasion to amicably resolve the current issue and
further protect and create a conducive and enabling environment even for other
industries that may be suffering in silence,” she said.
The businesswoman further revealed how the company went from
making close to Sh500 million per month before the Covid-19 pandemic to below
Sh50 million.
“During the two years of Covid-19, the company ensured that the
livelihood of its employees was sustained, which strained its resources. The
post-Covid effects and the on/off closures of the company affected cash flow,”
she said.
Karanja attributes her woes to the move to join politics through
the Deputy President William Ruto-led UDA party.
In addition, the businesswoman also asked for more time to pay an
Sh500 million tax negotiated in December 2021 and due six months after.
“It’s good to note that as KRA applies the Excise Duty Act to
close down the company, the excise duty arrears amount to only about Sh195
million, of which we defaulted on only one instalment of Sh30 million for April
2022,” Karanja said.
She added that the Government needs to cushion Industries facing
difficulties, especially local industries which have no parent companies in
other jurisdictions to cushion them, like the multinationals.
“This is a humble request that all the relevant authorities be
requested to rise to the occasion in order to amicably resolve the current
issue and further protect and create a conducive and enabling environment even
for other industries that may be suffering in silence,” she said.
The CEO called for a meeting with the Commissioner-General of KRA
to articulate the firm’s predicaments as they seek a moratorium.
