The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has lined up an order for a maiden batch of 350 body cameras for its staff based at its Times Tower head office in Nairobi in a stepped-up bid to curb tax cheating and crack down on staff bribery.
An order list to potential suppliers showed that the taxman will also acquire 20 external cameras alongside a host of accessories, including a server for the body-worn cameras, 60 data collection devices, and a system to host and live stream the operations of the body-worn cameras.
The body camera will comprise two parts, one for the front and another for the backside of the officers wearing them.
“The front camera will be for high-quality video recording and photography while the rear camera will be for video calls, providing stable and smooth image transmission,” KRA said in a call for suppliers of the equipment.
A strategic plan shows that the bodycams will be used by staff attached to the customs, border control, and enforcement as a way of enhancing transparency during interaction with taxpayers.
Some of KRA’s staff have been under scrutiny for suspected collusion with tax dodgers and negatively impacting revenue collection targets.
The cameras will record interactions with taxpayers, capturing the issues raised in real-time and how they were resolved—a position expected to serve as a deterrence to rogue employees who have over the years amassed fortunes through bribery while turning a blind eye on tax cheats.
The KRA has since last year stepped up a purge against rogue staff with dozens of them sacked and more than Sh500 million recovered through lifestyle audits.
For instance, in the six months between July and September 2024, some 44 KRA officers were sacked for corruption-related offences.
In the quarter to December alone, 19 KRA staff were dismissed for graft—more than double compared to the same period of 2023.
The sackings in the second quarter were, however, slightly lower than the 25 KRA staff dismissals in the first quarter of the current 2024-25 financial year amid an internal purge to weed out corruption within the agency.
Besides the dismissals, KRA said it conducted lifestyle audits on its staff, leading to the recovery of Sh549 million of illicit wealth.
“In the financial year 2023/2024, forty-one lifestyle audits were conducted leading to the recovery of Sh549 million. Other key anti-corruption measures include profiling of tax evaders and the adoption of a whole-of-government approach, which promotes collaboration across public institutions to enhance compliance and curb evasion,” said KRA when it released a report on disciplinary action against rogue staff for the period between July and September 2024.
KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga recently disclosed that the agency has established Corruption Prevention Committees (CPCs) to help curb graft.
“The CPCs take appropriate administrative actions against any reported malpractices, reporting on emerging risks, and meet quarterly to evaluate the implementation of the Public Service Integrity Programme (PSIP) activities,” the official said in December.
The taxman has been under pressure from President William Ruto and the National Treasury to weed out corruption within its ranks amid persistent revenue leaks suspected to be fueled by rogue officials.
Dr Ruto mainly singled out graft in the collection of excise duty on a range of products such as cigarettes, bottled water, and spirits. A review of KRA financial books by the Auditor General’s office revealed that the taxman possibly lost 9,686,358 excise stamps in the financial year ending June 30, 2024.
