Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential candidate Raila Odinga came out to defend Keroche Breweries Limited, an employer of thousands of Kenyans.
This follows a move by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to shut down the beer manufacturer over default in payment of tax arrears that have accumulated over the years.
“It is not right to become punitive in terms of taxes. If taxes are too high, there is a tendency to evade them, but if they are low and manageable, people will pay. Don’t close a business because the owner has defaulted in paying taxes, that is why I am telling them, let Keroche go don’t kill Keroche. If she cannot pay today, let her pay tomorrow,
“Spread out the payment. She is a Kenyan. Where can she run away to?” Raila said.
Raila urged the government to avoid taking punitive measures that cripple key industry players in the name of reclaiming taxes. He said the State should regulate taxes and accord investors good tax payment laws that allow them to be compliant.
Keroche Breweries Limited is a Naivasha-based Company that was recently shut down by KRA over unsettled taxes, it is a major revenue generator, and source of employment.
The decision has led to an increase in the unemployment rate which in turn will contribute to the emerging crisis from the increase in food prices.
“Don’t do it because if you close a business you are not only killing the investor but you are also killing the employees,” he noted.
The former prime minister then assured citizens during the rally at Thika that his administration would protect the private business sector and come up with good tax laws that would help investors and business people to be tax compliant.
“The private sector is an engine for economic growth. The government needs to create an enabling environment for the sector to thrive by removing bureaucratic red tape so that the private sector can move and create wealth,” he said.
During an address to the media on Tuesday, Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja said the company was shut down on May 15, 2022, after defaulting on an earlier agreed plan to repay tax arrears totaling Ksh.30 million.
The agreed plan was to have the taxes paid in months to a certain target that the company didn’t manage to attain by the end of the duration set.
Even though Karanja has insisted that KRA’s move to shutdown Keroche breweries is politically motivated, she cites KRA having gone ahead to issue agency notices to several banks against lending the brewer, fully paralyzing the operations of the company.
“The KRA measures of issuing the agency notices to all the banks in Kenya, have induced a harsh investment climate. Some banks with whom we were arranging financing are finding it difficult because frequent closures are raising risk levels,” said Karanja.
