A middle-aged man identified as engineer Justus Juma lost his life after jumping from the second floor of the Kenya Revenue Authority offices at Lake Basin Mall in Kisumu, a tragedy that has now become a harsh symbol of how brutal and inhumane KRA has become.
The tax agency later confirmed the incident, saying the man sustained serious injuries before dying. But what they called an “unfortunate incident” is in truth a national disgrace. A life was lost not to crime or accident, but to a system that has turned taxation into torment.Juma’s story is one too many.
Reports show he had been handed a staggering KSh 300 million tax bill and lived under constant threats and humiliation from KRA officers.
His accounts were frozen, his tax PIN blocked, and his business crippled. When he went to negotiate a repayment plan, he was dismissed.
Instead of compassion, he met cold bureaucracy and cruelty. A man who once served his country as an engineer was stripped of everything until death seemed like his only escape. This is not taxation it is systemic abuse wearing the mask of revenue collection.
Across Kenya, small business owners and contractors face the same brutality. KRA officers are known to raid offices, send agency notices without warning, and demand bribes to “settle” issues.
They behave like untouchable overlords, accountable to no one. Even those owed billions by the government are treated like criminals for unpaid taxes they cannot afford to clear because their own payments are stuck in state ministries. This is hypocrisy at its highest level a government that owes its people yet punishes them for not paying back what it owes them first.
Many Kenyans are sinking into depression and hopelessness as they watch the taxman destroy livelihoods with arrogance and impunity. Meanwhile, the same leaders overseeing KRA loot public funds without shame. The double standard is sickening.
Those in power waste billions in corruption scandals, yet ordinary citizens are harassed for every coin.Juma’s death must not be reduced to another statistic or polite press release.
KRA has lost its humanity. It has forgotten that its duty is to serve, not to destroy. The authority has become a weapon of intimidation, and unless it is reformed, more innocent lives will be lost.
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