KRA has come under fire from bar owners for closing the Keroche Breweries in Naivasha, stating that this will lead to more job losses in the industry.
Operators said that the already lost supply will result in the unemployment of more than 14,000 employees through their representative, Bar, Hotel and Liquor Traders Association (BAHLITA).
“KRA has cut almost 20 per cent of our stock, we will have to re-adjust by firing people,” Bahlita secretary general Boniface Gachoka said.
The association requested President Uhuru Kenyatta’s help in reviving the industry, which is still struggling to recover from the Covid-19-caused collapse.
More than 250,000 jobs have been lost in the sector since 2020, according to an Association poll.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been petitioned for intervention in the protracted dispute by more than 400 employees of the ailing corporation.
Raila Odinga and William Ruto, the vice president, have also asked KRA to allow the brewery to reopen.
The civil society organizations requested commissioner general Githii Mburu to speak with Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja on Thursday in an effort to resolve the conflict.
Edward Githaiga, the chairman of the Tax Justice Lobby, announced that unless new talks between the KRA and Keroche Breweries begin, the group’s members will be mobilized to sleep out at the KRA offices.
“We need to protect businesses and help them grow; not to close them. We are offering to be the middle people who will bring KRA and Keroche on the table,” he said.
After lifting the embargo on the factory in March, KRA claims that the brewer disregarded an arrangement to stagger payment of a disputed Sh22.79 billion and neglected to pay duty.
Since its reopening in March, Mburu claimed Keroche has not paid a single penny in duty on alcohol sales.
He continued by saying that Keroche was aware of the March agreement’s provision allowing the taxman to pursue enforcement action in the event of a payment term violation.
The brewer was given a 24-month window in March to pay outstanding tax debt totaling Sh957 million.
