Tabitha Karanja Issues strong statement after Gov’t closes Keroche Breweries for the 2nd time

Keroche Breweries boss Tabitha Karanja has broken silence for the first time since her company was shut down by the government.

Here’s her statement:

First of all, I wish to sincerely thank His Excellency the Deputy President Dr. @WilliamsRuto, the Rt Hon. @RailaOdinga and Kenyans at large for putting aside their political differences to support our local Kenyan industry that is under serious siege.

We note with appreciation that this weighty business matter facing Keroche Breweries has been separated from politics and its sideshows.

I wish to dispel the narrative that has been created by Kenya Revenue Authority @KRACare @KRACorporate that Keroche Breweries Ltd is a non-compliant taxpayer who perpetually default on their tax obligations.

The truth of the matter is that there have been tax disputes dating back to 2002 and the company in exercising its constitutional right to fair taxation should not be blacklisted.

The good news is that the company in 2021 opted for an out of court settlement of cases through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and on a without prejudice basis managed to settle two historical cases.

I was thinking aloud on Sunday afternoon and pondering how I will relay the painful message to our employees on Monday that we will be laying them off as a result of KRA’s closure.

I was also at pains as I looked at all the beer in the tanks that we shall be forced to drain to waste and wondered why and how the following relevant ministries remain so indifferent to the dire consequences of the current closure of the company’s factory;

1. Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services.
The company is at the verge of laying off over 400 employees due to the illegal, punitive and draconian actions by the KRA. The Ministry ought to be concerned and interrogate the matter as it is constitutionally mandated to safeguard the welfare of labour and legally obligated to protect all Kenyan workers.

2.Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development.
As the ministry’s name indicates, they should at all time defend local investments and enterprises, and take all lawful measures to support them to develop and grow. Does the Ministry understand how long it takes to build an enterprise even half the size of Keroche Breweries? They should not and CANNOT sit put and watch existing Industries being brought to their knees by the very government agencies that are meant to facilitate growth. This will surely erode investors’ confidence in our country.

3.The National Treasury.
I will ask if the Cabinet Secretary has ever taken time to understand the standoff between KRA and the company. KRA have exerted their authority with cavalier approach on collection of taxes recklessly disregarding the effects of their actions,thereby ‘killing the goose that lays the golden egg’. Its good to note that as KRA applies the Excise duty Act to close down the company, the excise duty arrears amount to only about Kshs.195m, of which we defaulted on only one instalment of Kshs.30m for April 2022.