Keroche Breweries Shut Down: The Kenya Revenue Authority has shut down troubled Keroche Breweries. The taxman has shut down the brewer over Sh. 332 million tax arrears. The shut down is expected to result in hundreds of workers losing their jobs at the factory.
Keroche was first shut down by the KRA in December 2021. However, it was reopened during the festive season after the management entered into an agreement with the taxman.
In January this year, Keroche Breweries was grasping on straws as its financial crisis deepened. The local brewer had salary arrears running into over two months and had also defaulted on a tax repayment plan with the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Following the shut down, Keroche’s chief Executive Officer Tabitha Karanja has pleaded with President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and salvage the company from total collapse, saying efforts to get an audience with the KRA commissioner General had hit a snag. “We are sure that this issue can be sorted amicably as we are ready to pay the required taxes if KRA opens up our brewery,” she said.
Ms. Karanja said that the pandemic had taken a heavy toll on her business leading to the current problems. “To be candid, the ripple effect of the disease greatly affected our tax obligation and this resulted in arrears amounting to Sh. 270 million,” she told the daily. “Before the pandemic, we were able to pay the Sh. 200 million (tax) comfortably but we had a slight delay in settling the outstanding amount.”
Wangui Wambeca: How my little boy was murdered
Keroche has been entangled in a long running battle with KRA over a Sh. 9.1 billion tax dispute. The courts ruled that Keroche should pay KRA Sh. 500 million as the hearing went on. However, Keroche protested that it could not raise the amount and asked for an out of court settlement. KRA and Keroche then entered into an alternative dispute agreement over the dispute.