KRA officials placed under police chief in border control plan

Politics and policy

 

Customs officials inspect boxes containing ivory seized at the JKIA in Nairobi July 25, 2014. Hundreds of Customs officials have been redeployed to border entry points in a major security shake-up that has seen the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) incorporated into the National Security Advisory Committee. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO

In Summary

• KRA commissioner-general John Njiraini has also become a member of the National Security Advisory Committee chaired by Joseph Kinyua, the Head of Public Service.
• The new border control officers, also trained on customs management, have been issued with green uniforms to distinguish them from their counterparts from the Immigration Department and the Kenya Police Service.
• Porous borders have been blamed for rising insecurity within the region while traders have had to contend with unfair competition from goods smuggled into the market.

Hundreds of Customs officials with security training have been redeployed to border entry points in a major security shake-up that has seen the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) incorporated into the National Security Advisory Committee.

 

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The border control officers (BCO) will now be under the control of Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo following a presidential order that brought all security agencies under a single command.

Some 250 officers who recently graduated from Embakasi Administration Police College in Nairobi will now join 315 others who have been redeployed from revenue collection to various border outposts. This brings to 565, the number of border control officers under Mr Kimaiyo.

The latter batch, which graduated in 2005, had been working as revenue collectors and will now be in charge of border security and integrity.

Of late, Kenya has been facing security threats from the Somalia militant group, Al-Shabaab which has been blamed for recent attacks on civilians and security personnel. There has also been concern about the incessant trafficking of small arms, drugs and contraband sugar worth millions of shillings.

The officers who have already reported to their new stations are university graduates and were taken through a grueling seven-week course at Embakasi to prepare them for new roles that have also seen KRA commissioner-general John Njiraini become a member of the National Security Advisory Committee chaired by Joseph Kinyua, the Head of Public Service. The committee prepares briefs for President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The new BCOs, also trained on customs management, have been issued with green uniforms to distinguish them from their counterparts from the Immigration Department and the Kenya Police Service. Previously, they wore white shirts and blouses.

The border control officers will sit on security committees in their respective station areas and share intelligence with their national office, senior security sources said.

The KRA confirmed it had effected changes on the border control and surveillance unit, saying the move would help boost its mandate of regulating cargo entering or leaving the country.

“It is a normal exercise aimed at enhancing our role of managing the country’s border stations. We are boosting the presence of our officers at the border points,” Maureen Njongo, the KRA spokesperson, told Business Daily when reached for comment.

The new changes came as the KRA announced that all passengers transiting through the country’s borders by road will now have all their personal belongings checked by its officers to enhance security and curb tax evasion.

The mandatory inspection will cover items carried in passenger buses, trucks, private motor vehicles and motorcycles.

A notice by the agency said: “Considering the need for enhanced security, KRA will with effect from August 15, 2014 require all passengers travelling using the above means to presents their personal effects/belongings upon arrival at the entry or exit points to facilitate clearance through customs.”

The KRA said the task would be carried out within the provisions of the EAC Customs Management Act, which requires that all persons declare their belonging at the points of entry and exit to ensure conformity with the rules on safety and tax payment.

Porous borders have been blamed for rising insecurity within the region while traders have had to contend with unfair competition from goods smuggled into the market.