The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga was an unwelcome guest today evening and faced blatant humiliation from Members of Parliament for late submission of documents in an ongoing multimillion tax loss probe ahead of his appearance.
Wattanga was scheduled to appear before the National Assembly Finance Committee to respond to queries on the suspected loss of Sh62billion in a tax evasion scandal by two palm oil companies.
The MPs interpreted his late submission of documents as a deliberate and intentional move to sabotage probe into the Sgh62billion palm oil scandal.
He instead supplied the documents before the committee today morning ahead of his appearance.
When he showed up, the Finance Committee chaired by Molo Member of Parliament (MP) Kimani Kuria declined to hear Wattanga on whether Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) Asia PTA Limited and Louis Dreyfus Company Kenya (LDC) limited evaded paying taxes.
The two firms reportedly evaded taxes through mis-declaration of palm oil cargo shipped into the country.
“You cannot expect us to go through these voluminous documents at this sitting and have a meaningful engagement with you. It is not possible. We need more time.” Kuria retorted.
On the other hand, Eldas MP Adan Keynan, a committee member questioned KRA’s intentions was expected to have submitted the documents to Parliament by September 6, 2024.
“It is in your interest that the information reaches us in good time. As a committee of parliament, we have a right to get information in good time. This issue of creating a time crisis was sorted by the current constitution.” Keynan lamented.
“The tradition in this House is that entities appearing before committees must present their documents at least 24 hours before the start of a committee meeting.” Keynan added.
The CG was appearing before the committee after seeking an extension that saw a September 10 sitting called off.
The committee had requested that KRA provide details on the total cargo volume of palm oil imported by LDC Asia PTA through the port of Mombasa from February 23, 2023 and June 26, 2024.
Legislators demanded answers on the total taxes and fees paid by LDC Asia PTA in the importation of the palm oil cargo from February 23, 2023 and June 26, 2024.
Documents before Parliament show that in 2022 the government lost Sh16.5 billion in revenue from the 233,000 metric tonnes mis-declared as crude palm oil and Sh32.54 billion in 2023 from another 387,868 metric tons mis-declared shipment.
In 2024 the government has already lost Sh13.83 billion in revenue from the 163,567 metric tonnes imported so far.
Lawmakers required Wattanga to provide details of cargo volume of RBD Palm Stearin, Crude Palm Kernel Oil, Crude Palm Olein, Crude Palm Oil, and Crude Palm Fatty Acid Distillate imported by LDC- Kenya limited, Acee Limited, Mazeras Oil Limited and Vipingo Industries Limited through the port of Mombasa from February 23, 2023 and June 26, 2024.
Also on the list is details on taxes and fees paid by LDC- Kenya limited, Acee limited, Mazeras Oil limited and Vipingo Industries limited in the importation of the palm oil products between February 23, 2023 and June 26, 2024.
Documents before the committee singled out the mis-declaration of the product imported by LDC companies for intended use is in Kenya and the other East African countries in two ways.
First, the product a blending of 60 per cent crude palm oil with a 40 per cent refined palm oil, was declared as crude palm oil.
Shipments were imported in refined form were declared as crude palm oil at the port of Mombasa in an apparent scheme to evade the 35 per cent import duty or USD500 charged per tonne.
The product also attracts Import Declaration Fee (IDF) at the rate of 2.5 percent, Railway Development Levy of 1.5 percent and Value Added Tax (VAT) 16 percent.
Semi refined palm oil attracts 10 per cent duty.
LDC- Kenya limited has offices in Mombasa and is one of the country’s leading vegetable oils merchandisers with a growing footprint across East Africa.
