The current streak of punitive taxation has gone a notch higher. This is after the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) issued a directive that people arriving at a point of entry in Kenya such as the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will pay tax for personal items worth USD500 (Sh. 75,000 and above).

These personal items will also include household items  and will be subjected to taxation whether they are new or used.

The move by the KRA has sparked widespread outrage as Kenyans came out to share their ordeals at the hands of rogue KRA officials at the JKIA who have been unleashing harassment in the name of collecting taxes on these types of goods.

The new punitive measures have also caught the eye of Tourism cabinet secretary Alfred Mutua.

According to Mutua, such measures are one of the reasons why the number of tourists visiting the country has been declining.

“You go to Rwanda, they don’t harass you. Does Rwanda not collect taxes? You go to South Africa, and they don’t harass you. In Dubai, they don’t harass you. So, why do our visitors face such challenges in Kenya? And we wonder why people are not coming to Kenya,” said Mutua.

KRA: Items you must declare at customs when arriving or departing Kenya

Kenyans shared how they have been forced to abandon personal items such as their used laptops and mobile phones at the airport after being asked to pay exorbitant fees or bribes in the name of taxes.

“Kenya. The only country in the world that does that. Flying into JKIA is one of the things I hate . It’s a nightmare but I’m sure soon enough the tourists will reroute to Tanzania. The airport staff hustle you for bribes it’s just absurd. I go to Kenya to visit family and it’s the only trip I’m never ever looking forward to,” a social media user who identified as Fathiya Omar commented.

“Yes this happened to me this past August, I had an iPhone which I use and I had another phone which I was to use while in Kenya, none were brand new, they googled the price and were trying to make me pay taxes on my personal phones which I already paid taxes on when I bought them, they detained me and my son for about an hour, I refused to bribe and I wasn’t going to pay nobody taxes,” commented Sheila Orwa.