KRA Finally “Agrees” To Re-open Keroche Breweries

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has finally complied with the Court directive to reopen Keroche Breweries limited after a two-month closure.  The tax man said will open the Naivasha-based plant on Friday, July 29^th.

“Therefore, based on the directions of the Honourable Abigail Mshila, the Keroche factory will be opened tomorrow (Friday) at 11 am,” KRA said in a statement on Thursday.

The re-opening comes barely a week after Keroche Breweries CEO Tabitha Karanja sued the tax authority and the commissioner general Githii Mburu for disregarding a court order to reopen the firm.

The hearing of the contempt of court suit against the commissioner general has been scheduled for August  12, 2022.

The High Court recently issued a directive to KRA to reopen the plant, which was shut down over tax arrears amounting to 322million shillings that accrued from February 2021. The Naivasha-based plant’s CEO Tabitha Karanja in December last year vowed to pay 21 million shillings as a condition to reopen the plant.

According to Karanja, the firm managed to pay 20.8 million shillings for reopening but it was unable to pay the second installment which led to its closure in June. Karanja pleaded with the taxman to allow the plant to reopen and sell its alcohol worth 512 million shillings, expressing her fears of running into losses if the alcohol was not sold.

KRA called upon the high court to reverse the directive compelling the taxman to reopen the plant arguing that the High Court order violated the initial order where Keroche had been allowed to settle its tax arrears in installments until the next hearing date on September 2022. Justice Abigail Mshila however said that she will only give the audience to the taxman’s counsel to address the court if they re-open Keroche.

The recent closures of the factory by KRA have created a lot of uncertainty in the company’s operations resulting to

• Unintentional lay-off of 400 direct employees among other thousands of indirect workers
• Loss of 87,500 liters of beer, filtered and ready for packaging, and 1,250,000 liters (6 tanks) of beer ready for filtration and packaging worth 350 million shillings.
• Loss of raw material including malted barley, sorghum, and hops among other finished products.
• Accruing interest from loans advanced to the firm by banks.
• Loss of market share and distribution network.

Related Content: Keroche Fires 400 Employees Amidst KRA Closure