ALFRED MUTUA IN TEARS AS KRA JUMP ON HIM

Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua now claims that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has also been hounding him over unpaid taxes.

Governor Mutua, referring to the recent dispute between local brewer Keroche and the taxman which saw the company closed for two months, said that he is also being pestered by KRA through his businesses.

“KRA is hounding me in my businesses, I am telling you Keroche is not the only one suffering from KRA,” Dr. Mutua said during Thursday’s Day Break show on Citizen TV.

“I have been given a letter that I have to pay so much money, otherwise I will get in trouble, I am in trouble.”

The county boss claims that KRA has gone as far as reaching out to suppliers of his businesses to bar them from providing services until he settles his taxes.

“KRA has written to people who provide me services in my businesses and told them ‘Until Mutua’s companies have paid..’ so this thing about KRA is facing everybody in this country,” said Mutua.

While dismissing Deputy President William Ruto’s claims that Keroche’s troubles with the tax authority are as a result of political persecution, Mutua said that everyone has been a victim of KRA and so the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) allies should not use it to play victims.

“I have had to enter a negotiation with KRA about a payment plan, and I am not alone. Everyone who is running a business in this country has entered a negotiation phase with KRA, so it is not targeting anybody,” the governor said.

“The DP should not start saying that KRA is hounding Keroche because of politics just because Tabitha Karanja has joined UDA, we have to pay taxes!”

Keroche signed a deal with the taxman on Monday which will see the firm pay Ksh.957 million in undisputed tax arrears for the next 24 months with the first payment backdated to January.

As a result, KRA said it will lift agency notices issued to 36 banks which had blocked the Naivasha-based plant from accessing new financing from lenders to boost its operations.

Courtesy