NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 8 – The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced the appointment of Rispah Simiyu as the new Commissioner for Domestic Taxes.
The new commissioner currently serves as the KRA Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Tax Dispute Resolution docket.
According to the Authority’s Chair Francis Muthaura, Simiyu will be assuming her new role from 22 nd October 2020.
“Simiyu assumes the position following a competitive recruitment exercise conducted by the KRA Board and an external consultant that begun on the 8 th of August 2020 attracting 32 applicants with 4 making it to the final level,” Muthaura said.
“Domestic Taxes Department accounts for 65 percent of KRA revenue collections and therefore Simiyu is tasked with the role of delivering on this mandate. In her current role, she has grown the dispute resolution profile over the years from the settlement of 90 disputes to 284 disputes from 2018 to 2020,” Muthaura said.
The Authority has described Simiyu as a seasoned and grounded tax professional with over 19 years of experience.
Before joining KRA in April 2018, she served as the Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited, Regional Tax Manager East Africa, with her role covering assignments in the wider Africa and Middle East Regions.
While at the Bank, she also served as a member of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Finance and Audit Committee, and specifically as the Chairperson of the Tax Sub-Committee whose responsibilities included training management and staff of KBA members on existing and emerging tax issues.
She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2001 rising to the position of Tax Manager.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant, a Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant (FCCA), An advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a member of the Law Society of Kenya and a Certified Public Secretary.
She holds a Master of Laws degree from The University of Nairobi with a focus on International Trade and Investment. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dar es Salaam and a post-graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. Rispah has practised and consulted on tax matters in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and is thus well versed with the tax laws of these countries.