Police have been ordered to arrest Tabitha Karanja, the Senator for Nakuru, by a Nairobi court after she failed to show up for the hearing in a case in which she is accused of having tax-related problems.
After the prosecution updated the charge sheet in the Ksh. 14.5 billion tax evasion case, the lawmaker entered a not guilty plea on April 13 of this year to new tax evasion accusations.
At that time, the previous CEO of Keroche Breweries’ legal team informed the court that they preferred an out-of-court settlement. But KRA officer Irene Muthee informed the court that no deal had been reached to resolve the dispute out of court since Keroche would have to inform the commissioner in writing, according to the Tax Procedure Act.
In order to avoid a full trial, the court gave Keroche 45 days to start the out-of-court settlement process.
In late 2022, KRA filed a lawsuit against Keroche Breweries for contempt of court. This came about as a result of Keroche’s breach of a new payment arrangement mandated by the same court, which required the brewer to pay current taxes as well as monthly payments on tax debt. Keroche allegedly failed to honor payments totaling Ksh. 30.3 million, including the payment of Ksh. 16 million in two equal installments in August, according to the taxman’s application.
Furthermore, Keroche owed Ksh. 14.3 billion in current taxes.
During their 25th anniversary celebration in June of this year, Senator Karanja revealed her intention to resign as CEO of Keroche Breweries.
