KRA official charged with receiving Ksh.500K bribe to help Kisumu school file nil tax returns

A Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officer has been charged before the Kisumu Anti-Corruption Court for allegedly soliciting and collecting a Ksh.500,000 bribe to help a local school file tax returns.

Evans Agumba Oriato, a Compliance Officer based in Kisumu, was arrested by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) following investigations that linked him to a bribery scheme involving Jane Memorial Secondary School.

According to the EACC, Oriato allegedly demanded Ksh.1 million from the school in December 2021, promising to “assist” in filing nil returns for the years 2016 to 2020.

He is said to have received a down payment of Ksh.500,000, with the balance to be paid upon completion of the process.

Reports by the Commission say that the accused then persistently kept demanding the remaining amount, leading to the complainants reporting the matter to EACC’s Western Regional Office in Kisumu.

EACC officers later mounted an operation that led to the suspect’s arrest while he was receiving a Ksh.250,000 bribe. He was processed at the EACC offices and released on a cash bail of Ksh.100,000 pending further action.

Following investigations, the file was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who concurred with the Commission’s recommendation to charge the suspect.

Oriato was arraigned on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, and charged with three counts of receiving a bribe, contrary to Section 6(1) as read with Section 18(1) and (2) of the Anti-Bribery Act No. 47 of 2016.

He denied the charges and was released on a bond of Ksh.500,000 with a surety of a similar amount.

EACC said the case forms part of an ongoing crackdown on corruption and bribery in public service delivery points aimed at ensuring transparency and fairness in access to government services.