The High Court has declared unconstitutional the recent hiring of over 1,400 revenue service assistants by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The court found the June 2023 recruitment process violated constitutional principles of ethnic diversity and regional balance in public service.
The strongly-worded orders from Judge Musyoka delivered a sweeping rebuke to the tax agency.
“A declaration that the June 2023 recruitment of the 1,406 revenue service assistants was unconstitutional, as it offends the preamble to the Constitution and the provisions of Articles 10, 27, 56 and 232(g)(h)(i) of the Constitution,” the ruling stated.
The court also took issue with KRA’s plans to hire 600 graduate trainees, declaring the age limit of 28 years unconstitutional discrimination against youth. Stringent new rules were imposed, barring any hiring by KRA until “an ethnic diversity and regional balance policy is deployed” within 90 days to uphold constitutional values.
KRA in September had defended the hiring as urgently needed to boost tax compliance and revenue collection.
“We would like to inform the public that we have launched the Revenue Service Assistants program to support taxpayers with their compliance needs,” KRA stated in a September 2023 public notice about the now-disputed staff.
The highly-trained assistants were to “provide on-site facilitation to taxpayers” including physical visits, KRA said at the time, noting they would have official identification.
As a public interest case, the court issued no order on legal costs.
