Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho has lamented his incapacity to file tax returns with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
The Governor said that he has since Wednesday been trying to file returns but he cannot and gets the message: “the user is canceled.”
He cast aspersion on Jubilee regime citing that they are behind his incapacity to file his returns since his KRA pin and that of his two brothers, Abu and Hussein; have been blocked.
Through his Director of Communication Richard Chacha, Joho said Jubilee is trying a new tactic to shut him up but he will not.
“No amount of intimidation and arm-twisting will change my course in politics. The Jubilee administration has fought me and my family from all angles. If this is the price I have to pay for defending my people and speaking the truth, so be it,” said the Governor.
Joho noted that he has been filing his returns every year as required by law.
However, KRA’s Southern Region senior assistant communication commissioner Fatma Yusuf declined to give more details on Joho’s incapacity to file returns citing that it is a matter between the authority and him as an individual.
“If KRA has an issue with the Governor, we shall approach him as a person. We cannot divulge any information regarding his KRA pin status, unless it is through a court order,” said Yusuf.
The Mombasa governor has been in a protracted battle with the tax man.
In March this year, the authority moved to court seeking an order stopping him [Joho] from transferring or withdrawing money from his CFC Stanbic Bank account to allow for scrutiny into his tax returns.
After the order was granted by High Court Judge Justice Hedwig Ongudi, KRA in a statement said Joho last filed his returns in 2014.
KRA’s tax evasion investigator Justus Kiuvu in an affidavit maintained the governor last returns were for the years 2008 – 2013.
And he had been filing nil return except on 2010 when he filed sh1, 000.
“Despite declaring nil tax, he is the registered owner of two high-end motor vehicles – Rolls Royce KBR 001R and Porsche Cayenne KCG 001J,” Kiuvu said in court documents.
Deadline for filing returns is June 30.