KRA shuts down Keroche Breweries over Taxes

400 hundred workers have lost their job after the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) closed down the Keroche Breweries Keroche Breweries following the brewer’s failure to honour their March 2022 debt settlement agreement.

The closure was announced on 14th June 2022 by Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja who pleaded by the tax man to give them more time saying the one month they had been given was not enough. The agreement would have seen Keroche pay Kshs.957 million over a period of 24 months from January 2022

“I still plead with the KRA to afford us an opportunity to get back on our feet and regain our footing as a manufacturer, employer and local indigenous business entity in order to sustainably meet all our obligations. I specifically request once more to be given a moratorium on the enforcement action that shut down our operations, and on the unsustainable payment plan that we agreed to under unbearable pressure,” Karanja said.

The development comes after Karanja denied in court that she doesn’t own Keroche breweries in a case challenging her suitability to run for public office. Karanja is running for Nakuru Senate seat on a United Development Alliance ticket.