Ex-CS Adan Mohamed front runner for KRA top job despite age limit hitch

 Former East African Community and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Abdulla Mohammed. [File, Standard]

The search for the next taxman is set to start when the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) board interviews seven candidates shortlisted to replace Humphrey Wattanga. 

Former Cabinet Secretary Adan Abdulla Mohamed is the most prominent candidate who will be battling out with others, who include KRA insiders. 

Mohamed has also emerged among the favourites, according to multiple sources with KRA, who noted that his credentials as the former Industrialisation and East African Community Cabinet Secretary and expansive private sector experience and strategic vision, gave him an edge over the other candidates. 

His age could however be his achilles heel, having turned 62 on December 1, 2025, two years above the public service mandatory retirement age. Sources said that the board, chaired by Ndiritu Muriithi, engaged a legal expert to help them navigate a legal minefield that has previously consumed the tax collector in costly court battles. 

A legal advisory commissioned by the board and seen by The Standard, however, offers a clear pathway for Mohamed's appointment, anchoring it on the same statutory provision that allowed former Commissioner-General John Njiraini to serve beyond the retirement age.

The seven candidates who will face the interview panel are Caxton Masudi (53), Lilian Nyawanda (49), Nancy Ng'etich (48), Fred Mugambi (50),  Adan Mohamed (62),  Lydia Ndirangu (approximately 40-41) and  Rispah Simiyu (48).

The ages have been reliably confirmed by sources familiar with the process.

Masudi, is a former deputy commissioner at KRA in charge of policy and domestic taxes.

Nyawanda, who was appointed acting Commissioner-General on April 8 following Humphrey Wattanga's departure, holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from USIU, and has over 20 years of experience in customs administration.She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University (completed 2023), as well as a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Public Policy from the same institution.

Her private sector experience includes roles as Customs and Excise Manager for Africa at Diageo and Customs Manager at East African Breweries Ltd.

Mugambi, who heads the Kenya School of Revenue Administration (KESRA) and holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship, also came highly recommended.

Ng'etich, an Advocate of the High Court, was confirmed as Commissioner for Shared Services in September 2025 after serving in an acting capacity since February 2023.

Simiyu, a tax professional with over 19 years of experience, has previously served as Commissioner for Domestic Taxes and as acting Commissioner-General.

Ndirangu, the youngest candidate at approximately 40, holds a Law degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master's in Law in Public Finance.

Mohamed is a Harvard Business School MBA graduate and a chartered accountant. He has served as Managing Director of Barclays Bank (now Absa) in East and West Africa before joining former President Uhuru Kenyatta's Cabinet in 2013. He later served as Chief of Strategy Execution in President William Ruto's administration, tasked with delivering the Kenya Kwanza agenda.

"He is in a league of his own. The man has run a multinational bank, a ministry, and the President's delivery unit. Tax collection is about systems and politics, and he understands both intimately," a board source familiar with the interviews told The Standard.

The fight for the corner officer at the 30th floor of Times Tower could be about the power that comes with the office. The KRA boss holds the keys to the country's coffers but also has command over the country's tax revenue collection enforcement machinery, including the high tech surveillance and an army of enforcement officers spread across the country, including the various ports of entry into the country. 

It also comes with heavy responsibility as every shilling the CG fails to collect means the country has to borrow more. 

While the CS National Treasury draws the country's expenditure plans, it is the Commissioner General of KRA who has to roll up their sleeves and collect the money that the government spends over any given year. 

The amount that KRA collects determines how much the government borrows to finance the deficit between tax revenues and the budget. 

This has meant that while the Act gives the CG autonomy and independence, it exposes the office to intense executive and legislative pressure when revenue collection performance falls short of Treasury's targets. 

In the past, a number Kenyan taxpayers have suffered when the state weaponised the power of the CG’s office. KRA has, for instance, issued agency notices on several companies and even individuals critical of the government, freezing their bank accounts and in turn paralyzing their operations.

On account of Mohamed’s age, the KRA board sought a legal opinion as to whether it can appoint a CG who is past the retirement age. The legal opinion, dated May 7, 2026, concludes that the KRA Board may lawfully appoint a Commissioner-General above 60 years of age, provided the appointment is on fixed-term contract terms under Section 80(2) of the Public Service Commission Act.

The advisory, prepared by Independent Legal Counsel, anchors its conclusion on the 2018 Employment and Labour Relations Court decision in Okiya Omtatah v Kenya Revenue Authority Board of Directors & 2 others (Petition No. 103 of 2017).

In that judgment, Justice Nelson Abuodha held that Mr John Njiraini, then Commissioner-General, was appointed on a fixed-term contract permissible under Section 80(2) of the PSC Act, and that fixed-term contract employees are not pensionable hence not subject to the 60-year retirement age rule.

Justice Abuodha further ruled that policy documents like Mwongozo  the Code of Governance for State Corporations  cannot be used to bar or prevent a strategic decision of the government.

The board's legal opinion echoes this reasoning, stating that the KRA Board may lawfully recruit and appoint a Commissioner-General above the age of 60, provided that such appointment is made on a fixed-term contract basis.

It further notes that the recent High Court decision in Gitau v Attorney General (August 2025) reaffirmed the constitutionality of the 60-year retirement age while endorsing the statutory exception for post-retirement contractual engagements where rare skills are required.

After the interviews and consideration of the pitches by the candidates, the KRA Board is expected to forward its recommendation to Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, who holds the final authority to appoint the Commissioner-General under Section 11 of the KRA Act.

Should the board and Mbadi go with Mohamed as their choice, he will become the second KRA boss in history to serve beyond 60 years and the first former Cabinet Secretary to take the helm of the tax collector.

Under Wattanga, who was appointed KRA CG in August 2023, KRA continued its run on missing tax revenue collection targets. 

Over the current financial year – the bulk of which was presided over by Wattanga   as Commissioner General before his April exit –  the tax authority has a target to collect Sh2.78 trillion. It is however behind this target and as of February, total revenue stood at Sh1.98 trillion, falling short of target by Sh155.2 billion. 

A March 2026 report by the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee noted that the shortfall was “primarily driven by weaker performance of key revenues streams” especially income tax that underperformed by Sh103.5 billion.

During Wattanga’s first year in office – over the 2023/24 financial year - KRA collected Sh2.407 trillion, which represented an 11.1 per cent increase over the previous year but it had targeted to collect Sh2.5 trillion.

The taxman however registered a rare feat last year, surpassing revenue collection target in the period to June 2025. During the year, KRA collected Sh2.571 trillion, which was against a Sh2.555 target. The government had initially set a target of Sh2.7 trillion but later revised it downwards following rejection of the Finance Bill 2024 over punitive new taxes it had proposed.

And while the board declined to renew his contract on account of underperformance especially missed targets, KRA has consistently grown revenues over the three years, including double digit growth in 2024, despite the missed targets. 

Under Wattanga, KRA has been aggressive in pushing for administrative modernisation but also suffered from a constrained macroeconomic environment that still suffered the aftershocks of Covid-19 but also a multiyear drought and the anti government protests in 2024 and 2025.

He also oversaw continued deepening of technology in tax collection, including the rollout of the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS), which aims at giving the taxman visibility on tax collections in its bid to seal leakages. 

He also tried to broaden the taxbase by bringing on board small and medium enterprises. Bringing the informal sector players into the tax net however appears to have eluded him and he was unable to crack the informal economy, which however holds the key to growing tax revenues as it accounts for 80 per cent of jobs in the country. [e-mail]