Relief for Keroche as court orders KRA to reopen Naivasha plant

The High Court has ordered the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to reopen Keroche Breweries plant in Naivasha pending the hearing and determination of a suit pitting the two parties.

The decision issued on Friday is on the backdrop of Keroche and KRA’s return to the corridors of justice after the former failed to honour an earlier repayment plan to foot determined tax arrears.

KRA shut Keroche Breweries on May 15 after the brewer failed to honour a repayment plan that would have seen it settle Ksh.957 million shillings across 24 months.

In its defence, Keroche had stated it was unable to honour the payment schedule given the tough operating environment and the short-run to the payment of the first installment covering the tax arrears.

Nevertheless, the courts have struck a new repayment schedule which requires KRA to pay an initial Ksh.8 million as the first installment on the tax arrears and thereafter pay a similar amount on the 30th day of each month until the next hearing date.

In reopening the plant, the taxman is required to unseal the plant’s repackaging line and stores and reactivate the Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS) at the brewer.

The next hearing date for the suit which lists KRA as the defendant has been set for September 22, 2022.

Orders to reopen the brewer’s manufacturing plant will come as relief news for 370 workers who had been sent on indefinite-unpaid leave following the closure of the plant two months ago.