Keroche Breweries is set to lay off 400 workers after the company was closed by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) over tax arrears.
On Twitter, Keroche Breweries Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tabitha Karanja expressed how the closure had taken a toll on her.
“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,” she wrote.
“The company is at the verge of laying off over 400 employees due to the illegal, punitive and draconian actions by the KRA.”
She said the company is staring at tanks full of beer which will go to waste as they have been forced to drain them away, further calling out several government agencies for what she described as indifference towards the company’s woes.
She is now requesting a meeting with the KRA Commissioner General to explain the company’s financial difficulties.
Karanja stated that the company will also seek a debt moratorium while they work out the details of the problem.
She also commended Deputy President William Ruto and Azimio-One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga for putting aside their differences to “help the local Kenyan industry that is under threat”.
“We note with appreciation that this weighty business matter facing Keroche Breweries has been separated from politics and its sideshows,” she stated.
“There have been tax conflicts dating back to 2002,” she said, “and the corporation should not be banned for asserting its fundamental right to fair taxation.”
Odinga criticized the KRA for shutting down Keroche Breweries due to tax arrears arguing that the company should be given more time to pay the debt.
Speaking in Murang’a, Odinga called on the government to shun harsh measures that damage important industrial companies in the name of reclaiming revenue.
“Widen the net and allow people to pay. But don’t close the business because someone has defaulted in paying taxes. If you do that, you are not only killing the investors, but the employee,” he stated.
According to Odinga, the State should regulate taxes and provide investors with favourable tax payment regulations that enable them to be compliant.
“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,” Odinga stated.
The Naivasha-based company which was recently shut down by the KRA over unsettled taxes, major revenue generator, and source of employment.