NAKURU, Kenya, May 24 – The Keroche Breweries Chief Executive Officer Tabitha Karanja now says she does not own the company.
Karanja was replying to a suit by Daniel Mahiri, a Nakuru-based politician who is seeking to bar her from running for the Senatorial seat in the August elections.
In his petition, Mahiri wants the court to find Karanja unsuitable to hold public office.
Mahiri who was a senatorial seat aspirant lost to Tabitha in the primaries.
He stated that since 2006 Keroche has been accused in numerous cases of crimes related to tax evasion.
“I am employed by Keroche Breweries Limited as a director and the Chief Executive Officer of the company, but I am not the owner of the company as alleged by the petitioner,” stated Tabitha in her replying affidavit through Kabugu and Company Advocates.
Tabitha described Mahiri in court papers as a sore loser who is not motivated by ethics or ideals as he claims in his petition.
She stated that his motivation is selfish and aimed at eliminating competition for personal gains.
Karanja however, admitted that the company has pending tax disputes with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as is the case with most businesses and other taxpayers in the country.
The dispute she said is of legal nature contesting an array of tax impositions and rules of engagement with the taxman.
She added that she is a stranger to the admissions of tax liability alleged by Mahiri but aware of the ongoing negotiations between the company and KRA to resolve pending tax disputes.
“In any event, I do not understand what the tax relations of Keroche Breweries Limited have to do with me as a private person distinct from the company,” she said.
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