The troubled former Kenyan minister behind a gold smuggling ring that potentially costs Uganda Shs 52.2 bn in tax revenue a year

Harvests rarely come this big.

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) recently netted a big fish: a former Kenyan minister, Stephen Kipkiyeny Tarus, for smuggling 13 kg gold and potentially costing Uganda $30,000 (Shs 113 million) in revenue.

Kipkiyeny was detained following an investigation that uncovered his involvement in an illegal gold smuggling operation, leading to substantial financial losses to government.

He is also said to be behind a gold smuggling network that has over the years evaded taxes, posing a significant threat to Uganda’s economic stability.

The Auditor General in a recent report said Uganda loses up to Shs 52.2 billion annually in uncollected revenue from gold exports.

It is now clear that Kipkiyeny and others

Yet given the prominence of Kipkiyeny, the CEO East Africa understands that authorities had to tread carefully for diplomatic purposes. That is why his arraignment in court and subsequent remand to Luzira until January 18, 2024 was done in a hushed manner.

Kipkiyeny served as an assistant minister during President Mwai Kibaki’s administration. He also served as Kenya’s High Commissioner to Australia between 2009 and 2012 after losing his bid to be re-elected as MP for Emgwen in 2007. He had served as the Member of Parliament for Emgwen between 2003 and 2007.

Troubled history

Kipkiyeny, who is politically aligned to Raila Odinga, has a troubled history.

In January 2020, Kipkiyeny had to fight to block the auction of his Karen home in Nairobi over a KSh70 million bank loan.

His double-storey home sits on a 0.4708-hectare parcel of land in the upmarket Karen suburb and has more than five bedrooms.

In 2021, Kipkiyeny recorded a police statement claiming that his life was in danger due to his political ambitions.

It followed threats to torch his house in Chepterit, Nandi over a heated political contest.

The former minister has in the past portrayed himself as a person of high integrity who would never enrich himself at the expense of the ordinary people.

“I want to tell Kenyans that am not that kind of a person. I have lived in this country long enough and while sympathetic with the conditions the people of Kenya are going through everyday, I have never sought to benefit from poverty nor challenges the people are facing,” he once told a political rally.