Keroche Breweries has filed a contempt suit against the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the agency’s Commissioner General Githii Mburu for failing to comply with a High Court order issued on July 14, 2022.
The order mandated the taxman to reopen the beer maker’s brewery in Naivasha which has been closed periodically over pending tax arrears.
The brewer requested Mburu’s arrest for contempt of court in an application to the High Court on Friday through H&K legal attorneys.
“It is inconceivable how KRA, against the Court Orders, are determined to ensure that our business remains shut down and our 400 direct employees and thousands other indirect employees become jobless,” said Keroche.
High Court Judge Alfred Mabeya ordered KRA to reopen the brewery on July 14, however, the tax agency filed a court motion on July 18 asking for a restraining order to prevent the reopening.
The application by KRA to not reopen the brewer was not certified by Lady Justice Abigael Mshilla, and no orders were made in relation to the application, claim Keroche’s attorneys.
“It is not just about the taxes. We repeat, it is not just about the taxes. This is about vested interests by our competitors within the industry through the aid of powerful individuals weaponising government institutions,” said the brewery.
“We have instructed our lawyers to immediately issue notice of our intention to cite all the responsible persons within KRA for contempt of court for deliberately failing, refusing and ignoring the court order,” said Keroche.
Keroche Breweries was shut down by KRA in May after the Naivasha-based brewery disregarded a tax payback plan that called for it to pay Sh957 million in 24 months.
In its defense, Keroche claimed that due to the challenging business environment and the impending payment of the first installment settling the tax arrears, it was unable to adhere to the payment timetable.
The attorneys pointed out that by keeping the plant closed, Keroche runs the risk of losing Sh350 million worth of beer, including 87,500 liters that are filtered and ready for packaging at the factory and 1,250,000 liters that are.
“Our enterprise value as a company is more than 30 times the amount of the taxes that we owe the KRA. The unfortunate circumstances we are experiencing are partly due to the Covid-19 ripple effects that slowed down our market and business sales, and the consistent and determined efforts by KRA that have been meted on us to ostensibly punish us,” said Keroche.
