KRA Boss Humphrey Watanga In Big Trouble In Sh5.5 Billion Rice Import Scandal

Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner General Humphrey Watanga now faces potential court sanctions after being accused of brazenly defying court orders by allowing the illegal clearance of rice imports worth a staggering Sh5.5 billion.

Watanga, alongside Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Lilian Nyawanda, stands accused of facilitating the entry of 55,000 tonnes of duty-free rice despite explicit court directives temporarily barring such imports .

The explosive revelations emerged in fresh court filings that detail how two massive shipments of white rice were cleared at the Port of Mombasa late last year, in what petitioners are now calling a calculated act of contempt of court.

Court documents reveal that the vessel Spica Eternity docked in Mombasa in October 2025 carrying approximately 35,000 metric tonnes of white milled rice from Kandla Port in India, exported by Olam Agri India Private Limited and consigned to Ecoview Commodities Ltd and Njema Commodities Ltd.

The second vessel, IVS Crimson Creek, arrived in mid-December 2025 with an additional 20,000 metric tonnes of white rice from Thailand, exported by Olam Thailand Limited and Golden Granary Co. Ltd, consigned to Preferred Grains Ltd.

The 55 million kilogrammes of imported rice, valued at approximately Sh5.5 billion at retail prices of Sh100 per kilogramme, have now become the centre of a legal and political firestorm threatening to consume some of the country’s top government officials.

The scandal deepens with allegations that government officials issued a new gazette notice in December extending the import window to May this year to circumvent court orders frozen by Justice Edward Muriithi, which required that any fresh imports must be cleared by the court .

Kirinyaga Senator Kamau Murango and Baragwi Ward Representative David Mathenge, who are leading the legal battle, have submitted damning cargo manifests to the court as evidence of what they describe as a systematic scheme to flout judicial authority.

The petitioners argue that the imports threaten to flood the market at a time when local farmers in Nyanza, Central, and Western Kenya are sitting on massive unsold stocks of rice, potentially causing financial ruin for thousands of smallholder farmers.

Senator Murango insists that warehouses and stores in rice-producing regions already hold large quantities of unsold rice, contradicting government claims of a food crisis .

The government, however, maintains that Kenya faces an acute rice shortage. Officials project that national rice stocks will run out by the end of this month if imports are halted, with the country requiring about 750,000 metric tonnes of rice between January and June 2026 while reserves stood at approximately 110,000 metric tonnes at the start of the year.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi

Government lawyers warn that restricting imports would drive up prices and disproportionately harm low-income households, as domestic production supplies less than 20 per cent of annual demand estimated at up to 1.5 million metric tonnes .

Justice Muriithi has since issued interim orders suspending implementation of the contested gazette notice and directing KRA to detain the disputed consignments pending further directions.

A ruling expected on January 29, 2026 will determine whether Watanga, Mbadi and Nyawanda will be formally cited for contempt of court.

The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive time for Watanga, whose tenure as KRA boss has been marked by multiple confrontations with Parliament and allegations of poor performance.

The taxman has repeatedly faced scrutiny over revenue collection shortfalls that have forced the government to increase domestic and foreign borrowing.

This is not the first time Watanga has found himself in hot water.

In 2024, he was summoned by the Finance and National Planning Committee over claims the country lost Sh62 billion in a tax evasion scandal involving Louis Dreyfus Company.

He also infamously skipped parliamentary invitations 14 consecutive times over queries on ethnic composition of KRA staff.

For CS Mbadi, a former ODM stalwart now serving in President William Ruto’s government, the rice scandal threatens to undermine his credibility just months into his tenure.

The ODM-allied Cabinet Secretary has already faced parliamentary sanctions threats for failing to honour MPs’ invitations on other matters of national importance.

The petitioners have made it clear they will not back down.

In their court application, they warn that the continued release of duty-free rice constitutes fresh acts of contempt that undermine conservatory orders meant to protect farmers pending the case’s final determination.

As Kenya holds its breath for the January 29 ruling, the bigger question remains: will senior government officials be held accountable for allegedly defying court orders in a scandal that has pitted farmers against bureaucrats, and the judiciary against the executive?