The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has suspended three officers alleged to be involved in irregular sale of ethanol marked for destruction, pending further investigations.
The officers stationed in Mombasa, allegedly aided the sale of eight containers of ethanol outside the normal KRA auction process.
The goods had been gazetted for auction under notice number 4557. The auction was set for 9th August, 2016. However, verification by stakeholders showed that the containers had been imported and concealed as diethylene glycol monobutyl ether.
“Upon verification, they were not auctioned on the basis that they did not match the description. KRA lab experts identified the substance as ethanol and therefore the items were set aside for destruction,” Commissioner for intelligence and strategic operation Giithi Mburu in a statement.
On 16th March, 2018, he said, the same containers were irregularly re-gazetted under notice number 2535, for auction on 18th April 2018.
Preliminary evidence confirms that the goods were not sold on the floor of the auction, but they were sold outside the normal auction process, on 27th June, 2018.
Necessary action will be taken on any other KRA staff found culpable during the ongoing investigations on the irregular sale of the ethanol.
KRA has zero tolerance policy to corruption and all KRA staff have an individual responsibility to uphold integrity at all times.
