Former Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed has officially taken over as the new boss of the Kenya Revenue Authority after being sworn into office on Wednesday morning.
The ceremony was held at the Supreme Court, barely a day after Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi announced his appointment.
Adan now replaces Humphrey Wattanga, who recently left the tax agency after being appointed Kenya’s High Commissioner to Australia by President William Ruto.
The new KRA chief will serve for three years.
His swearing-in, however, comes at a time when his appointment is already facing a legal challenge in court.
There has been a challenge on the eligibility of Adan to serve in the position based on his age. According to court papers, Adan is about 62 years old. This is above the mandatory retirement age for public servants as per the Public Service Commission.
In addition to the age limit issue, the petition is also claiming that the process used to appoint him is unconstitutional in terms of leadership and public service.
The case is set to go to court later this month after the two parties submit their cases before the hearing.
In spite of the on-going legal battle, Adan has taken office as the head of KRA when there is need by the government to boost its revenues.
Apart from the reforms in tax collection, Adan will have to improve the IT systems at KRA to ensure higher compliance levels.
Some of the senior government officials present at the swearing-in included the chairman of the KRA Board Ndiritu Muriithi.
Adan is not new to public service. He was previously serving as the Industrialization Cabinet Secretary in the previous government under former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
