The Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled that the cigarette manufacturer must pay VAT and excise due on 419 cartons of its’ Supermatch brand cigarettes for export that were seized at a suspect’s home in 2016. Mastermind Tobacco had been unable to provide valid export documents.

Stephen Mutoro, who launched StoCK last year as a platform of fighting illicit trade, said today: “Criminals are robbing Kenya of an estimated Sh153 bn every year by failing to pay due taxes on smuggled stocks, counterfeit goods and other products declared for export which never leave the country.

“The illicit cigarette trade alone cost Sh2.2 bn the sum of which would otherwise be spent on providing essential services to Kenyans especially at this point in time that we are battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We applaud the KRA for this vital breakthrough. We urge KRA Commissioner General Mr James Mburu to focus more on netting missing billions which go down the illicit trade route. National Treasury must empower and facilitate KRA to bring more tax cheats to justice.

“Organised syndicates use ill-gotten profits to expand their networks and fund other corrupt enterprises including drug-dealing. Illicit trafficking is a critical revenue stream for the nexus of terror groups operating throughout the East Africa region. The end result will be that Kenyans will be taxed less, cut the ballooning public debt even us more resources will be available for provision of public service delivery”, he said.

“Kenyans must indeed learn that this is not a victimless crime. Illicit trade costs countless lives and livelihoods. We can only allow it to continue thriving at our own peril. We at StoCK pledge to continue working with the office of the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Intelligence to ensure that we stem illicit trade. We call upon Kenyans of goodwill to continue sharing intelligence information with us in confidence”, said Mutoro

Led by Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) Secretary General Stephen Mutoro, StoCK is working to raise awareness of how organised syndicates are robbing the Nation, and further seek to ensure they are successfully prosecuted with aim of recovery of lost funds as well as serving as a major deterrent.

StoCK other director is Yusuf Abramjee, the founder of Tax Justice South Africa (TJSA) and a Vice President of Crime Stoppers International.

The cash-strapped supermarket has informed the High Court that it plans to sell non-core assets like furniture, fixtures and fittings in 19 branches, most of which have been shut by landlords for rent arrears.

The sale of the assets is expected to generate about Sh911 million, according to documents filed in court.

The retailer revealed the sale plan in the case where the creditors led by Hotpoint Appliances are pushing for liquidation of the supermarket over a Sh1.02 billion debt.

Tuskys, until recently Kenya’s top retailer with 53 stores, has less than 10 outlets operating amid stockouts.

In August last year said, the retailer it had inked a deal to raise Sh2.1 billion short-term debt from an unnamed private equity firm based in Mauritius.

The funds were aimed at stabilising operations to make the retailer more attractive to strategic investors it is courting.

Raising debt capital was expected to ease the retailer’s financial pressure, giving it more time to negotiate the sale of a majority stake.

So far, Tuskys says it has received Sh500 million from the undisclosed Mauritius-based fund and has not issued timelines on when it expects to receive the remaining Sh1.6 billion.

“The sale of non-core assets has been set out in the applicant’s recovery plan as one of the sources of capital to finance the applicant’s recovery, aside from its investors’ capital injection. It is also a key aspect of the applicant’s plan to trim down its branch network,” Tuskys said.

The supermarket chain has pleaded with the court to freeze the liquidation cases for one year and allow it to continue repaying the debts, arguing that its financial position remains redeemable and its business commercially viable.

“It is also the applicant’s submission that a liquidation of the applicant in its current financial state would offer no reprieve to its creditors as it would be unlikely that the creditors would recover the totality of the debt owed to them,” said Tuskys in court

“In particular, the unsecured creditors would likely recover nothing after settlement of debts due to secured and preferential creditors.”

Kenya’s retail sector has seen two major supermarket chains collapse in recent years, while Carrefour franchisee Majid al Futtaim has entered the market and grown into the second biggest retailer in just four years.

Nakumatt, which grew from a mattress shop in Nakuru to have branches across Kenya and East Africa, was forced to shut down last year as it struggled to repay its suppliers, landlords and other creditors.

The same scene is playing out at Tuskys, which is fighting forced closure of its outlets by landlords and owes suppliers and banks in excess of Sh10 billion.

Hotpoint, which is seeking to liquidate the supermarket over a debt of Sh248 million for electronics like fridges refrigerators, cookers, and TVs, says Tuskys has not shown an acceptable plan to settle its debt.

Hotpoint also argues that the petition for liquidation should proceed, saying that no secured creditor including Tusks’ primary bankers or its financial advisers have come forward to back their revival plan.

‘’We submit that both applications are intended to unnecessarily drag out and delay the hearing of the liquidation petition and to frustrate and defeat the petitioner’s efforts of realising the amounts owed to it by the company,” said Hotpoint in its latest application.

Tuskys’ move to seek financing from a PE firm comes after the retailer exhausted its local bank credit lines.

The company struggled to repay its bank loans and approached the lenders to restructure the debt.

Details of the loan agreement captured in court, including interest rate, repayment period and whether or not it is secured, were not disclosed. The retailer also declined to reveal the identity of the fund. It was also not clear whether the debt is convertible into equity.

Tuskys’ revival will spare local banks another round of losses after the lenders and suppliers lost nearly

‘One thing I made very clear was that I shall be my own man. I shall not be Michael or Bob. I shall be my own man’, said Mr Ndegwa in a Thursday night recorded interview with Yvonne Okwara on CitizenTv.

Mr Ndegwa expressed confidence that the firm will continue growing even after having had an adverse effect of Covid-19 disruptions.

‘I want Safaricom to be a purpose-led company. I want to ensure that it is part and parcel of the ordinary Kenyan on the streets … churning our products that add value to their daily life’, he said.

Mr Ndegwa revealed that the firm has 35 million subscribers and 27 million M-pesa subscribers adding that the firm added some 3 million during the Covid-19 period.

Asked about possibility of potential split over dominance, Mr Ndegwa played down the same saying companies perform better when they are big and not when they are small.

Last week, the company announced new tariffs for sending M-pesa amounts between Sh101 and Sh1,000 effective January 1,2021 after Central Bank of Kenya zero-rated fees on amounts below Sh100

As a business, we are concerned about the safety and well-being of our families, colleagues, partners, customers and all the stakeholders who make up the KCB family across all the markets we operate. For you our valued customer, I take this time to assure you of our continued support during this period.  We have been with you; we are in this together.

We have therefore taken several precautionary measures internally, in line with the guidelines issued by Government agencies and other subject matter authorities across markets. Allow me to highlight a few of these measures:

1. We have installed alcohol-based hand sanitizers in all our premises, and have also provided gloves, safety masks and hand sanitizers to our staff handling cash to minimize any risk.
2. Set up emergency isolation areas in all our premises in case of incidents.
3. We request that you adhere to the social distance of one meter in all your interactions.
4. We advise you to use our alternative banking channels – Cash recyclers, ATMS, Cash Deposit Machines, Mobi, KCB M-PESA, Vooma, and internet banking.
5. To ensure business continuity and guarantee staff safety, we will have some of our staff working off-site.

Authenticated advisories by government and health authorities e.g. World Health Organization (WHO), are good references on how to take care of yourself, your friends and your family.

While the crisis is unprecedented and unique, we have activated our Crisis Management Team which is working around the clock to manage the situation. We will continue monitoring, boost surveillance and drive more awareness.

It is our hope the situation will be contained, and a solution found soon to help us resume our normal lives. Working closely with Government agencies and other authorities, we will continue providing updates, as and when received. Keep safe, stay alert!

JOSHUA OIGARA, CBS, CEO & MD

Dr Peter Kamunyo Gathenge has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

Dr Gathenge, a healthcare manager, will be taking over the corner office of the Fund at a time it is facing serious financial challenges and delivery of its’ services.

Until his appointment, Dr. Gathenge was currently the Chief Executive Officer of MedSource Group Limited which represents an innovative way to create private sector opportunities to help deliver quality health services and products to more people.

His professional background encompasses senior management positions at prominent health care institutions in the country, including GlaxoSmithKline, as the country commercial director, Vaccines & Public Institutions Head.

As general manager for Aon Insurance Brokers, he also led the Africa Healthcare Practice Group. For Resolution Insurance’s East Africa operations, he set up the claims, case management, strategy and operations, and information and communication technology departments. He sits on the boards of the East African Healthcare Federation and the Kenya Healthcare Federation.

Dr. Kamunyo holds a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of London, Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery and a Postgraduate Diploma in Sexually Transmitted Infections & HIV management, both from the University of Nairobi.

He is also a fellow with Capacity Building for Effective Healthcare (CBEH) sponsored by GIZ. He holds a certificate of proficiency in insurance.

“Okoa Jahazi” is an optional service. Subscribers are encouraged to read through the terms and conditions and make a decision one way or the other.

Eligible Safaricom PLC pre-pay subscribers can request an advance of mobile airtime in the amount of Ksh 10/-, 20/-,50/-, 100/-, 250/-, 500/-, and 1,000/- subject to service charge.

For providing the credit advance to a subscriber, Safaricom PLC charges an advance fee of 10% for each request.

Eligibility criteria requires one to be a Safaricom PrePay subscriber and the amount requested must be equivalent to airtime spent for the last seven (7) days prior to the date of the request for the airtime advance.

You can only qualify for Okoa Jahazi if you have a balance of less than Sh2 in your account. One must also have an active line that has not gone into expiry due to a failure to top up over a period of 180 days.

You can request for the service by dialing *131#, you will then receive a confirmation SMS message from Safaricom indicating that advance has been credited to your account.

It is important to know that requests for Okoa Jahazi once made cannot be cancelled.

A subscriber can request for the credit advance daily provided they have fully repaid the previous advance.

A subscriber can track your usage of his or her credit advance by dialling *144*4# and sending an SMS to 144.

The credit advance will be deducted from your subsequent top up(s) until fully recovered. The advanced party will be required to repay the credit advance within a period of 96 hours from when the time the advanced amount was credited to the account.

If one fails to repay the credit advance within the said period they will not be entitled to usethe Okoa Jahazi service for a period of seven (7) days following the expiry of the 96 hours.

Other terms are the credit advance amount can only be used to make Safaricom to Safaricom voice calls and SMS, Safaricom voice calls and SMS to other local networks, internet browsing, international calls and international SMS.

Unknown to many Okoa Jahazi service users, they cannot be able to Sambaza (distribute) the credit advance to another subscriber.