STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL ALUMNI CHANGING THE WORLD: FCCA Rispah Simiyu (Mrs) Advocate, EBS; Commissioner Domestic Taxes, Kenya Revenue Authority

PROGRAMME: Advanced Management Programme, Class of 2020

Rispah Simiyu is a seasoned and grounded tax professional with over 20 years of diverse industry experience. She currently serves as Commissioner of Domestic Taxes at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), effective October 2020. She is also an Ambassador for the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) Women in Tax Network.

She has overseen phenomenal growth in domestic taxes through the enhancement of efficiencies and revenue mobilisation. Domestic taxes contributed Ksh.1.3 trillion (65%) of the total revenue collected (Ksh.2.03 trillion), in the year ending 30 June 2022.

Prior to the current appointment, she served as the Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Tax Dispute Resolution Division a position she held since April 2018. Whilst in this position, she grew the dispute resolution profile under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Framework from the settlement of 90 tax disputes in 2018 to 284 tax disputes in 2020.

Before joining KRA in April 2018, she served as the Standard Chartered Bank Regional Tax Manager for East Africa where she covered transfer pricing assignments in the larger Africa, Middle East and Pakistan. While at the Bank, she also served as a member of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Finance and Audit Committee, chairing the Tax Sub-Committee. Rispah, began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2001.

Rispah is an alumna of the Strathmore Business School’s Advanced Management Programme, Class of 2020.

“My experience at the Strathmore Business School was eye-opening, enriching, practical and exciting. I interacted with industry and fellow business leaders, I felt more prepared to face my professional challenges,” she says, of her experience.

For upcoming business leaders, Rispah has one word of advice: “You can have it all, but not necessarily at the same time,” she says. She also encourages them to step out of their comfort zones, saying: “You cannot lose what you do not have. Dare try!”