The Board of Kenya Revenue Authority has today announced the appointment of FCCA, CS, Rispah Simiyu (Mrs), Advocate, EBS as its Ag. Commissioner General.
She replaces FCPA Githii Mburu MGH, CBS who according to a press statement by KRA, has “resigned to pursue personal interests”.
The appointment takes immediate effect and will go on until the position is “substantively and competitively filled”, according to the KRA statement.
Rispah Simiyu has previously been the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes.
Rispah Simiyu is a seasoned and grounded tax professional with over 20 years of diverse industry experience. She assumed the role of Commissioner of Domestic Taxes at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), effective October 2020. In this role, she is credited with overseeing phenomenal growth in domestic taxes through the enhancement of efficiencies in 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.
Before that, 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.
She has also been an Ambassador for the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) Women in Tax Network.
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 larger Africa, the 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.
Letters to My Younger Self: Winnie Nakimuli—"You Are Worthy Simply Because You Exist"Rispah began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2001.
Amongst other qualifications, Rispah Simiyu holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Dar es Salaam and a Master of Laws (LL.M.), in International Trade and Investment from the University of Nairobi.
Rispah is also an alumna of the Strathmore Business School’s Advanced Management Programme, Class of 2020.
More people movements within KRA
To further enhance the revenue mobilization agenda and synergies in top management, the KRA board also announced other changes. Mrs. Pamela Ahago has been appointed the Acting Commissioner of Domestic Taxes and David Mwangi has appointed the Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Control. David Yego has been appointed the Commissioner in charge of Intelligence, Strategic Operations, Investigation and Enforcement, while Ms. Nancy Ng’etich has been appointed Acting Commissioner Corporate Support Services.
Dr. Mohammed Omar remains Commissioner Strategy Innovation and Risk Management, Dr. Fred Mugambi Mwirigi remains Commissioner Kenya School of Revenue Administration and Mr. Paul Matuku remains Commissioner Legal Services and Board Coordination.
