KRA officers to wear body cameras in new proposals to curb tax cheating

The Kenya Revenue Authority is planning on introducing the wearing of body cameras by its officers to mitigate tax cheating.

According to a report by Business Daily, the proposal will require officers from the domestic tax department and customs & border control to wear cameras attached to their uniforms during working hours.

"Very soon we will also be ensuring our enforcement officers have body-worn cameras, like the ones you see in the US so that any action they take is recorded and we can see it. When you put it off, we will also have to understand why you do it.

"This is so that as you engage out there, you do not get involved in activities that will compromise our objectives. We have to employ risk management where our risks are highest, so they will be more for our officers at border points where things are moving in and out and all our custom areas," KRA Commissioner General Githii Mburu said.

James Githii Mburu. Pulse Live Kenya

These are part of the measures to increase tax collection by curbing the collusion between KRA staff and taxpayers.

A number of employees at KRA have been investigated for amassing unexplained wealth.

Cameras will be used in high-value areas including border crossings, Mombasa port, the Inland Container Depot, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

According to KRA, the country loses almost Sh12 billion in revenue to tax cheats and has been mitigating the loopholes to meet its targets.

The taxman’s target for the year ending June 2022 was increased by Sh25 billion to Sh1.8 trillion.

KRA was already predicting that it would surpass its initial target of Sh1.77 trillion by Sh140 billion.

“I believe we will be over the original target of Sh1.8 trillion by Sh140 billion. Right now we are above it by Sh126 billion, so we hope this month we can do another Sh15 billion, so it will be about Sh140 billion,” the commissioner general said in a recent interview.