There’s a new tax sheriff in Kenya, and here’s an inside secret: it was not who we predicted. I gave a knowing nod to my senior colleague, Adonijah Ndege, our East Africa correspondent. But, only a small blow to our pride, it was still an “insider” as we said in this TC Daily edition.
According to a government gazette, Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi appointed Adan Abdulla Mohamed as Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the country’s tax authority, for a three-year tenure, effective May 18.
The new tax chief has a packed rĂ©sumĂ©: He was the former chief executive officer of Barclays Kenya, where he first applied for the KRA Commissioner General role in 2012 but lost out, Bloomberg reported, and also served as Chief Administrative Officer of Barclays Africa.Â
He was Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Industry, Trade & Cooperatives between 2013 and 2018, then Cabinet Secretary for East African Community (EAC) & Regional Development from 2018 to 2022, before stepping down to run for Mandera County governor, losing to Mohamed Adan Khalif. He is a known face in Kenya’s government and financial circles, which may be precisely the point.Â
Mohamed’s appointment ends weeks of speculation about who would get the tough job of steering Kenya toward higher tax compliance. President William Ruto’s administration is under serious fiscal pressure. KRA has collected KES 2.038 trillion ($15.7 billion) in the nine months to March 2026, but still has a KES 932 billion ($7.2 billion) gap to close before the current fiscal year ends.
His predecessor, Humphrey Wattanga, was pushed out after 31 months, reportedly for missing revenue targets and moving too slowly on digital tax systems. Wattanga has since been moved to Pretoria as High Commissioner to South Africa.
Mohamed inherits a tax agency that needs to collect more, digitise faster, and do both without further alienating an already stretched taxpaying public. No pressure.