Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over the weekend admitted that the Kenya Kwanza government has no money to settle some of its financial obligations.
Speaking on Sunday, April 9, in Mathira, the second-in-command admitted that civil servants were yet to even receive their salaries.
He said the financial problems affecting civil servants and county governments are a result of the 2018 handshake between Rtd. President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
“It is true we are having challenges in paying salaries, giving money to governors. Because the handshake gov’t ripped this country, they borrowed money left right, and center,” Gachagua said.
However, in a statement on Monday, April 10, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) dismissed DP Gachagua’s claims that the government is broke.
The taxman said it had surpassed its revenue collection target by 8 percent year-on-year.
KRA said that it had collected KSh 1.554 trillion as of March 2023, maintaining a consistent pace of revenue collection compared to prior years, with revenue collection averaging 95.1 percent on the original target and 93.4 percent on the Supplementary target.
“Year to date, KRA has kept pace with revenue collection compared to prior year collections. As at close of March 2023, revenue collection averaged 95.1 percent on original target and 93.4 percent on supplementary target representing a collection of KSh 1.554 trillion and a year on year 8 percent growth,” the authority said.
KRA clarified that it has invested in modern technology to efficiently collect and settle revenue from source to the Exchequer.
In a bid to bridge the deficit in target revenue collection, KRA said it continues to implement Revenue Enhancement Initiatives (REI) such as the roll-out of eTIMS, an initiative aimed at improving Value-Added Tax (VAT) collection.
