The Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) has elected new officials as it seek fight off attempts by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to de-register some of it rogue agents blamed for aiding tax evasion and theft of cargo at the Port of Mombasa.
More than 1000 cargo agents in Mombasa yesterday unanimously voted in new leaders in a midday election conducted at the KPA’s Mbaraki social hall ending a persistent infighting between the outgoing officials and the cargo agents.
Michael Mwakio is the new KIFWA regional chairman as David Kalama becomes the Vice chairman, while Charles Ndung’u grabbed the position of regional secretary in a 30 minutes elections.
Kifwa members have been embroiled in a tussle with KRA over delayed issuance of trading licenses.
The members claim that former KIFWA leadership had allegedly been compromised to accept new regulations that seek to lock out small local firms from the logistics business without consulting members.
In its attempts to curb tax evasion witnessed at the port and theft of cargo, KRA this year introduced new rules governing business license applications for clearing agents.
The regulations require agents to fill bio-data forms that disclose crucial information about their business operations and clients.