The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Thursday announced the appointment of Rispah Simiyu as the new Commissioner for Domestic Taxes.
Mrs. Simiyu who is currently serving as the KRA Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Tax Dispute Resolution docket will be assuming her new role from October 22, 2020.
Mrs. Simiyu assumes the position following a competitive recruitment exercise conducted by the KRA Board and an external consultant that began on August 8, 2020, attracting 32 applicants with 4 making it to the final level.
Domestic Taxes Department accounts for 65% of KRA revenue collections and therefore Mrs. Simiyu is tasked with the role of delivering on this mandate.
In her current role, she has grown the dispute resolution profile over the years from the settlement of 90 disputes to 284 disputes from 2018 to 2020.
Mrs Simiyu is a seasoned and grounded tax professional with over 19 years of experience.
Before joining KRA in April 2018, Mrs. Simiyu served as the Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited, Regional Tax Manager East Africa, with her role covering assignments in the wider Africa and Middle East Regions.
While at the Bank, she also served as a member of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Finance and Audit Committee, and specifically as the Chairperson of the Tax Sub-Committee whose responsibilities included training management and staff of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) members on existing and emerging tax issues.
She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2001 rising to the position of Tax Manager.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant, a Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant (FCCA), An advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a member of the Law Society of Kenya and a Certified Public Secretary.
She holds a Master of Laws degree from The University of Nairobi (UoN) with a focus on International Trade and Investment.
She also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dar es Salaam and a post-graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law (KSL).
“Mrs Simiyu has practised and consulted on tax matters in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and is thus well versed with the tax laws of these countries,” said KRA board Chairperson Francis Muthaura in a statement on Thursday.
She replaces Elizabeth Meyo who had been holding the position from April 2019.
The board did not immediately reveal the reasons for replacing Mrs Meyo.
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