Corporate Governance Practices Within Kenya Revenue Authority
Abstract
Good Corporate Governance has become a critical success factor for any successful
organization. The world focus has turned to the management of organizations and in
particular to the board of directors. This is because all the stakeholders want their
interests safeguarded in the organization. Shareholders want value for their capital,
society wants quality services, employees want higher salaries, natural environment
want to be exploited in a sustainable manner, while suppliers of finances want
perpetual returns and good relationship.
This is a case study of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The objective of this study
was to establish the governance practices within KRA and determine the factors that
lead to such practices. The KRA board of directors is mandated to oversee the
revenue collection, accounting for it and general administration of tax laws in Kenya.
The efficiency and effectiveness of executing its mandate depends highly on
corporate governance practices adopted. The data for the study was collected from
both secondary and primary sources. Primary data was collected though personal
interviews while secondary date was from documents and records available. The
content analysis method was used to analyze the data collected.
The study established that the Board of Directors in KRA has adopted practices of
good corporate governance. The Board of Directors are involved in formulating three
years corporate plan, allocation and monitoring the utilization of resources, have put
in place internal controls, appoint and regularly monitor the top management
performance, holds regular board meetings, have five standing committees and
effectively reports to the stakeholders. The board members are well mixed in terms of professional skills as required by KRA Act. However, board succession plan needs to
be legislated in order to allow retirement by rotation to avoid a situation whereby 50%
of the members would retire in one financial year. Adequate funding from Treasury
and integration of departmental ICT systems needs to be enhanced. Most of the
respondents also identified KRA strategic direction, Political, technological
advancements, economic developments and the need to enhance efficiency and
effectiveness in service delivery as the most prevalent factors that influence the
corporate governance.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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