This archive report was first published on 27 September 2019.
On September 26, 2019, a Nairobi court granted Humphrey Kariuki, the owner of Thika-based Africa Spirits Limited (ASL), permission to access his factory and collect old Sh1,000 notes to exchange them for the new currency before the September 30, 2019 deadline.
ASL is facing a Sh41 billion tax evasion charge. Kariuki had requested the court to order the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and police to re-open the factory, citing losses of over Sh1.2 billion in tax revenue due to the six-month closure.
According to ASL's lawyer, Cecil Miller, the company and another firm, Wow Beverages Limited, had been remitting Sh150 million monthly to KRA in tax.
Miller urged the court to direct KRA and the police to re-open the factory, stating that the closure was causing significant losses affecting the economy greatly.
Mr. Kariuki and other defendants, including ASL, Wow, and several individuals, have denied failing to remit the alleged taxes between 2016-2018.
The court allowed the factory owners to access the factory to remove all the old Sh1,000 notes to hand over to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) by Saturday, September 28, 2019, to beat the deadline.
The pre-trial of the case is scheduled for October 22, 2019.
