High taxes ironic when we can’t account for billions lost to graft

Activist Boniface Mwangi during an interview with The Standard on Friday, July 2, 2021 [David Njaaga, Standard]

Activist Boniface Mwangi’s latest mistreatment at the hands of “tax collectors” is just one of several episodes that threaten to be a hot-button issue. Challenging a gang of mask-wearing men, led by a gun-toting policeman, to identify themselves, he was met with obstinate belligerence and eventually wrestled to the ground, sustaining bruises in the process.

The Kenya Police Service denied that undue force was used. But footage from CCTV cameras repudiates their pat explanations even as small business owners attest to what has now become the norm in Nairobi. It seems business premises within the environs of the city have become magnets for various government agencies ostensibly looking for evidence of compliance with onerous licensing requirements. If it isn’t Kenya Revenue Authority officers demanding access to ETR machines, it is county government employees pressing for various business permits, some of which appear to have been conjured on the go.