Mr Charles Kichere.
Dar es Salaam —
President John Magufuli on Saturday June 8 demoted Mr Charles Kichere
from the position of Commissioner General of the Tanzania Revenue
Authority (TRA) to Njombe Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS).
The new development
comes a day after the president held a meeting (Friday June7) at State
House,
with a cross section of traders drawn from various parts of the
country.
Mr Kichere, who was
at the meeting found himself in a tight spot as the traders vented
their frustration over TRA's performance. The traders laid their case at
the no-holds-barred forum which was held to discuss the business
environment.
The hundreds of
traders spent more than 10 hours at the State House, pouring their
hearts out over the difficulties they were facing doing business.
An unfair taxation
regime, harassment by security and regulatory agencies, bureaucracy,
corruption dominated cries from the traders, some of whom blamed
ministers for letting down the President and complicating the business
climate in Tanzania.
The meeting echoed
the apparent gloom among the business community that has persisted for
some time now, even as the government was trying to restore confidence
and push positive reforms.
Tanzania Revenue
Authority (TRA) received most of the flak, roundly accused of harassing
traders through over-estimation of taxes and threats.
"Many of TRA
workers who deal with tax do not know what they are doing. They have
turned themselves into the law," complained Francis Noni, a businessman
from Kondoa District.
Mr Paschal Kihanga
from Morogoro accused the police and TRA of subjecting traders into
punching bags. He said the police have been arresting heads of the
Tanzania Leaf Tobacco Company (TLTC) without any formal charges,
prompting President Magufuli to order the sacking of the regional
criminal officer.
Earlier, as he
opened the meeting, President Magufuli warned that new measures would be
taken after the talks--some of which, he said, would hurt some
government leaders.
In what appears to
be part of the measures, the President appointed Mr Innocent Bashungwa
as a new Industry and Trade Minister and Mr Edwin Mhede Commissioner
General of TRA, demoting Mr Kichere who had served as the taxman boss
for over two years.
Before rising to
the top TRA position in March 2017 Mr Kichere was serving as the deputy
commissioner general since November 2016. He had previously worked at
the Tanzania Roads Agency (Tanroads) as head of finance and chief
accountant.
When he was
appointed to the position, Mr Kichere pledged that he would meet all
business operators through their associations across the country as he
sought to bring the taxman closer to its clients in the wake of a
challenging business environment.
He ascended to the
position at a time when the government was implementing cost-cutting
measures. Days after he was appointed, he held a meeting with the CEO
Roundtable of Tanzania (CEOrt) where he spoke of the goals for
sustainably widening the tax base in a changed business environment that
had seen several companies downsizing their workforce.
His remarks at that
time were suggestive of the fact that he was determined to revamp the
TRA. He was quoted by The Citizen at the CEO-Roundtable meeting, as
saying, "...I hope through discussions with business operators we will
come up with a sustainable way of paying more taxes despite that there
are some challenges among other businesspeople.
However, in
December last year, President Magufuli issued a raft of new tax
administration directives as he criticized some of his top tax
administration officials for making it difficult for traders to pay tax.
He ordered TRA to
review tax rates and make them affordable, admitting to a cumbersome
system to have Tanzanians become tax-compliant.
He spoke during a
working session in Dar es Salaam that involved TRA officials and
Regional Commissioners to discuss on improving tax collection and
business environment. The meeting was attended by Finance minister
Philip Mpango, BoT governor Prof Florens Luoga among other top
bureaucrats.
The meeting came in
the backdrop of concerns from the business community that many
investments had been closed over mounting debts and those in operation
were struggling to make ends meet in a subdued trading environment.
It remains to be
seen if the new measures being taken would ease business in Tanzania as
desired by the traders and the President.
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