By Patrick Beja and Willis Oketch
Clearing and forwarding agents stormed the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) longroom in Mombasa in a protest against slow clearing of cargo.
The agents, led by national chairman of the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association Hezron Awiti Bolo, said the most affected items were imported textiles and vehicles, adding that they were incurring huge storage charges.
They later held a closed door meeting with senior KRA officials, who declined to talk to the media.
Mr Bolo said entry documents were not passing through the system even after they paid duty at the KRA nominated banks.
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"For the last 10 days, our entries through the KRA Simba computerised cargo clearance system have not gone through, particularly for mitumba (used clothes) and vehicles. Our concern is who will foot the demurrage charges?" he asked.
They said the storage costs coupled with high exchange rates would drive up prices of imported cars and mitumba.
KRA Corporate Communications and Marketing Officer Maureen Njongo said she was aware about the complaints but said those affected could have made wrong entries.
She maintained documentation and revenue collection has been going on smoothly, adding that they would interrogate documents with entry problems.
"Some agents have not been making proper declaration hence KRA has been interrogating all entries. KRA has sent some documents to the agents to clarify," she said.
However, Bolo said they would return to the longroom and hold another protest today if the taxman did not resolve the problem.
