Humphrey Wattanga Mulongo was on Tuesday appointed the new Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority by Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung'u.
He describes himself as a seasoned corporate and public finance professional with a strong interest in the systematic analysis of transformative market opportunities.
"I'm driven by the practical application of innovative technology and financial structuring to enhance market linkages," he states in his CV.
An alumnus of the Alliance High School, Mulongo boasts of a chequered career which started off in 1991 with an internship job in the accounts department of the East Africa Industries (UNILEVER) in Nairobi under the tutelage of Micah Cheserem who was the then Chief Accountant.
His educational background is dotted with many firsts including being ranked the best candidate in the 1990 KCSE national exams.
This rare feat earned him the Dr Ouko Award for Academic Excellence.
Mulongo holds a bachelor's Degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
Until his appointment as the country's chief taxman, Mulongo was working as the managing director of Meghraj Capital Limited, the investment banking advisory arm of the Meghraj Group which deals with among other issues, advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and partnerships.
Before then, he was a commissioner and vice chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) from 2017 to 2022.
Previously, Mulongo was a senior partner of Afcorp Investments based in Johannesburg, South Africa from 2004 to 2017.
Besides, he is currently a director at Nordic Impact Fund (NIF), in Copenhagen, Denmark, since 2016.
He is also an investment committee member of the Kenya Climate Ventures (KCV) Limited, Nairobi since 2019 and Platinum member of the Kenya Institute of Bankers.
Mulongo's prior work experiences also include Product Marketing and Business Development Manager, SBC Communications Inc (AT&T), Austin, USA (2001-2002); Marketing Strategy and Business Development Manager, Agillion Inc, Austin, USA and Finance Consultant, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (1999).
Other job achievements are Cancer Research Laboratory Technician, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (1996-97).
Mulongo said he returned to Kenya ten years ago after gaining years of invaluable experience in the United States and South Africa and introduced a robust system for automating bond trading to the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
"The National Treasury used the platform to issue the world’s first mobile-only government bond, M-Akiba," he says.
During his six-year tenure at CRA, he said he was among other issues tasked with leading the Commission’s agenda of undertaking a comprehensive review and analysis of counties’ Own Source Revenue (OSR) potential, the gap thereof, and the development of requisite mitigation measures.
"We determined that, at Sh38 billion per annum, counties were grossly under-performing their revenue potential, which is estimated at over Sh260 billion," he said.