KRA Closes Down Keroche Breweries Naivasha Based Factory Over Tax Arrears

NAKURU, Kenya, Jun, 14 – Operations at the Keroche Breweries factory in Naivasha have come to a standstill after the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) announced it would stop operations over tax arrears amounting to Sh300 million.

KRA has accused the brewer of defaulting on an earlier agreed-upon plan to service the tax arrears while at the same time issuing agency notices to several banks against lending the brewer.

Keroche Breweries CEO Tabitha Karanja, said that attempts to resolve the stalemate proved futile further citing that the ‘enforcement’ and shutting down of its factory has become a political witch hunt.

Karanja said the harsh economic times had made it difficult for the company to pay the tax arrears further intimating that the latest agreement between the two was signed under duress.

“KRA’s draconian measures against Keroche Breweries constitute a hostile exception to well-established government policies of investment promotion, job creation, and support for value addition,” she said.

In light of the news, the company may be forced to sack over 400 employees while the company counts losses totaling Sh300 million if the beer in the factory goes to waste.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the brewery was closed for two years because of the measures enforced to contain the spread of Covid-19 and we incurred tax arrears of Sh322m,” she said.

Karanja continued to accuse the taxman of being oblivious to the business environment since it failed to give companies the chance to over the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“KRA is under tremendous pressure to place Keroche Breweries under existential jeopardy in order to retaliate against me for my interest in offering political leadership in Nakuru,” said Karanja who further said,“KRA has issued agency notices to the company’s bankers and instead of correctly notifying the banks of the Sh30m we owe, it gave a wrong figure of Sh558.7m,”

Keroche breweries is now seeking a moratorium on the enforcement action that shut down their operations and a review of the unsustainable payment plan.