KRA appoints a new Commissioner of Domestic Taxes

Times Tower Building in Nairobi which hosts Kenya Revenue Offices.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) board has appointed of Rispah Simiyu as the new Commissioner for Domestic Taxes.

In a press statement, KRA Board of Directors chair Amb Francis Muthaura said Simiyu who is currently serving as the KRA Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Tax Dispute Resolution docket will be assuming her new role from October 22, 2020.

Simiyu assumes the position following a competitive recruitment exercise conducted by the KRA Board and an external consultant that begun on August 8, 2020 attracting 32 applicants with 4 making it to the final level.

Under new appointment, Simiyu, a qualified Chartered Accountant, Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant (FCCA), will be in charge of Domestic Taxes Department that accounts for 65 per cent of KRA revenue collections. She is tasked with the role of delivering on this mandate.

In her current role, she has grown the dispute resolution profile over the years from settlement of 90 disputes to 284 disputes from 2018 to 2020.

She is a seasoned and grounded tax professional with over 19 years of experience.

Before joining KRA in April 2018, she served as the Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited Regional Tax Manager for East Africa, with her role covering assignments in the wider Africa and Middle East Regions.

While at the Bank, she also served as a member of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Finance and Audit Committee, and specifically as the Chairperson of the Tax Sub-Committee whose responsibilities included training management and staff of KBA members on existing and emerging tax issues.

She holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi with a focus on International Trade and Investment and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dar es Salaam.

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