The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has initiated procurement of 350 body cameras for staff at its Times Tower headquarters in Nairobi, along with 20 external cameras and supporting infrastructure including servers, data collection devices, and live streaming systems.
These dual-camera devices will record interactions with taxpayers in real-time, primarily targeting personnel in customs, border control, and enforcement divisions as part of a strategic plan to enhance transparency and accountability.
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This initiative comes amid intensified
internal purges against corruption, with 44 KRA officers dismissed for graft-related offenses between July and September 2024 alone-including 19 in the most recent quarter, which represents more than double the dismissals compared to the same period in 2023.
The technology deployment represents a significant escalation in KRA’s anti-corruption efforts, which have already yielded the recovery of Sh549 million through lifestyle audits conducted on staff during the 2023/2024 financial year.
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Working under direct pressure from President William Ruto and the National Treasury to address revenue leakage, particularly in excise duty collection where the Auditor General identified nearly 9.7 million missing excise stamps in the last fiscal year, KRA has established Corruption Prevention Committees that meet quarterly to evaluate implementation of integrity programs.
This comprehensive approach combining technological surveillance, administrative action, and cross-governmental collaboration aims to simultaneously deter staff from accepting bribes and prevent taxpayers from engaging in tax evasion practices that have historically undermined Kenya’s revenue collection targets.
Will the implementation of pervasive surveillance technologies in tax administration lead to a culture of trust and integrity, or might it inadvertently create an atmosphere of suspicion that could undermine morale and effectiveness in the long term?