National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has revealed details of how African ministers were embarrassed at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings in Washington last week, emphasising the need for self-reliance.
Mr Mbadi, who was addressing the national Taxpayers’ Day celebration at State House, Nairobi, on Friday, said he was “truly” embarrassed in Washington DC, during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings at their head offices in the United States capital.
“It’s not that we were treated badly, but you see, when you find African ministers queuing in a corridor, then you are called one by one — I mean, for those of us who have some pride, it is really embarrassing,” Mr Mbadi said.
“And the money that we are asking for, if we just tighten our systems, we can do without some of these things.”
Mr Mbadi was speaking just a week after returning from his first trip to the Bretton Woods institutions’ annual meet, which is normally a place for deal-making and signing of multi-million lending agreements with the lender.
The remarks also came just a day after Kenya received Sh78.3 billion from the multilateral lender after a review of an existing lending facility, which fell short of the expected Sh113 billion.
“So today, the IMF has released Sh78 billion, but if KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) puts systems in place, we can collect not less than Sh400 billion, so we can do without some of these loans,” Mr Mbadi said.
The event was meant to appreciate top taxpayers through different award categories in the country and was attended by several corporates and a host of KRA officials.
Other leaders who spoke at the occasion, including President William Ruto , emphasized the need to empower KRA to improve its ability to seal tax evasion loopholes and boost revenue collection to improve Kenya’s self-reliance.
Dr Ruto, who officiated the award ceremony, said embracing modern technology could significantly boost the taxman’s collections, vowing to throw his support behind KRA’s push to adopt new technologies in its duties.
“Automated systems, including electronic data interchange and streamlined customs processes, can significantly reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance transparency,” he told the gathering.
“There is, as we all know, some measure of resistance on matters of technology and digitisation.”
KRA chairman Anthony Mwaura said: “We don’t need to continue begging for money from outside,” referring to Mr Mbadi’s “embarrassing” encounter in Washington. He also emphasised the need for new technologies to boost their collections.
“If we are able to enhance our technology, we can increase our collection by 7 percent in the next financial year,” he said, adding that with the increment, Mbadi “would never go back to Washington to beg for money.”
“They will be coming here to beg us to take their money,” he said.
