- "The appointments of Wilkister M. Simiyu, Fancy C. Too, Michael Kamau Kamiru, Darshan Shah and Samir Ibrahim are revoked."
- Ruto appointed new board directors to serve from December 15 to January 12, 2026.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto has revoked the appointments of four members of the Kenya Revenue Authority Board of Directors made by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u.
In a gazette notice dated December 13, Ruto replaced the five members by appointing four new directors to the board.
"The appointments of Wilkister M. Simiyu, Fancy C. Too, Michael Kamau Kamiru, Darshan Shah and Samir Ibrahim are revoked," read the notice in part.
Ruto, using the power conferred by section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act, appointed new board members to serve from December 15 to January 12, 2026.
"I, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Hadi Sheikh Abdullahi, Richard Boro Ndun’gu, Lydia Cherono Rono and Amolo Ngweno, to be members of the Board of Directors of the Kenya Revenue Authority, from December 15, 2023, up to the 12th January 2026," the gazette said.
During a media roundtable interview with different TV stations on Sunday, Ruto said he had revoked some of the board members Ndung'u had appointed to give room to the private sector to also play a role in the management of Kenya's taxes.
Ruto also told Kenyans point blank that taxes will not be lowered anytime soon.
Ruto said he cannot lower taxes because the government will grind to a halt.
The Head of State said the country is facing a tough economic time owing to the current debt situation that has necessitated the existing taxes.
"In every Sh10 that I am collecting, Seven go to taxes. Do you want me to go the direction other countries are going by defaulting on loans?" he said.
"While it is true that tomorrow I can say let us reduce the taxes, it is also true that tomorrow for every Sh10 I collect, Sh7 goes to paying debt."
President Ruto said the only option is for Kenyans to pay the taxes for the country to remain afloat.
He said it is from the collected taxes that they can meet the day-to-day operation of the government.
"Those taxes we are collecting we have the education to fund, Sh7 to 10 to pay the debt which William Ruto did not accumulate," Ruto said.
"Are you telling me to tell teachers that I have no salary for them this month because I had to reduce the taxes on fuel?" he posed.