This archive report was first published on 22 August 2019.
On August 22, 2019, Nakuru County Governor Lee Kinyanjui and the KNCCI defended Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja against arrest orders over Sh14 billion tax fraud.
The governor claimed that the DCI and DPP offices were frustrating upcoming entrepreneurs who were helping the county's economy.
Tabitha Karanja and her husband Joseph Muigai spent the night at their office in Naivasha as DCI and KRA offices waited outside to arrest them.
According to Karanja, the attacks were sponsored by her fierce competitors after launching KB Lager. "Courtesy demands that the DCI or KRA officers summons us over the tax allegations but this has not been done and we see the hand of our competitor in this," she said.
Karanja and her husband denied all allegations that led to DPP Noordin Haji issuing orders to arrest the couple on Wednesday for failing to remit tax running into Sh14 billion from 2015.
Lee Kinyanjui stated that there was unrest in the county as the company was a major investor, adding that hundreds of residents may become jobless if the case was not settled amicably.
"While there may be tax matters that require redress, it would be an act of utmost betrayal to Kenyans who have built their businesses over the years to be reduced to fugitives," he said.
"The country should not criminalize local investors at the expense of multinational companies and we are wondering what happened to the ideology of buy Kenya build Kenya?" Lakeview MCA Karanja Mburu supported Kinyanjui's sentiments.
